There are reports a child was lost in the tsunami when it hit Manono Island, pictured.
RAISES magnitude of earthquake; map locates American Samoa, which was hit by a powerful earthquake
Destructive: the quake struck off the coast of American Samoa this morning
A USGS map showing the location of the earthquake in the Tonga region
Villages have been destroyed and deaths reported after a tsunami hit the South Pacific nations of American Samoa and Samoa.
Waves 1.57 metres higher than normal sea level hit Pago Pago, the capital of American Samoa, on Tuesday, the West Coast/Alaska Tsunami Warning Centre said.
Local radio in Pago Pago reported officials as saying at least 14 people had been killed across the country.
Holly Bundock, a spokeswoman for the National Park Service's Pacific West Region, said their local official in American Samoa had reported that at least four huge waves reaching up to 1.6km inland had caused a number deaths.
While Tuimalo Ahsam of National Radio in the Samoan capital of Apia told Al Jazeera that there had been at least four deaths confirmed by the national hospital.
"There has been a lot of damage, especially in the low-lying coastal villages," he said.
Jonah Tuiletufuga from Radio Polynesia told Al Jazeera: "The damage is extensive. We got a call from a villager trying to warn other villagers. His village was decimated this morning."Reports are still coming in from the southeast there is extensive damage to whole villages. No one was really expecting this. There's a severe sense of shock."
The tsunami was triggered by an undersea earthquake of 8.3 magnitude between American Samoa and Samoa.
In Apia, the Samoan capital, local media reported that people had fled their homes for higher ground after a tsunami warning.
Keni Lesa, a resident of Apia, told the AFP news agency: "I'm taking my family to a safe place. Everyone's getting out of coastal areas."
Tuiletufuga added: "There was a great response from the public.
"For the last three years there has been a drill implemented so there are designated areas where you have to run or walk to in the event of a tsunami."
Cherelle Jackson, the editor of Environmental Weekly, told Al Jazeera that Apia had become like "a ghost town".
"There are reports on Radio Polynesia where people are phoning up and reporting waves of up to three metres high," she said.
In western Samoa some residents told Radio New Zealand that they had been encouraged to move to higher ground after the quake had caused a huge jolt.
But fears of a devastating ocean-wide tsunami were calmed after the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre cancelled its warning for the region three and a half hours after issuing it.
Radio New Zealand quoted Samoan residents as saying that villages were inundated and homes and cars swept away.
"I can confirm there is damage, I can confirm there are deaths and I can confirm there are casualties," a Western Samoa police spokeswoman told Reuters.
"I cannot say any more at the moment."
Samoalive News said local radio stations had been receiving reported of high sea swells hitting coastal areas on the eastern and southern side of Upolu island
"School has been called off for the day with tsunami warnings calling for people to head to higher grounds," the website said.
Witnesses have reported scenes of destruction.
"It's horrible... The village is gone and my once beautiful beach front villa has now being submerged in water," Josh Nayangu told the BBC after fleeing the area on a small fishing boat with his wife and son.
Ula Osasa-Mano, who was visiting family on the island, told the BBC the water along the Apia seawall was turbulent.
"The water was kind of swirling like a spa pool outwards [towards] the rim of the lagoon and in a few seconds the water sunk," Ula Osasa-Mano said.
Tsunami advisory issued for California coast after 7.9 Samoan quake
The National Weather Service has issued a tsunami advisory for Coastal California, including Santa Cruz County, following the 7.9 temblor that struck American Samoa this morning. But the advisory is more of a heads-up to mariners because the threat appears to be nothing serious. The tsunami size is being estimated in centimeters. "It could generate some strong currents," said Dan Gudgel, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Monterey. A tsunami with "amplitudes in the range of 20-65 centimeters" — about up to two feet — is expected to hit the coast around 9 p.m., according to the National Weather Service. "It might be sloshing around for an hour and a half after that," Gudgel said. While not a towering wall of water, officials say such a tsunami can generate strong currents dangerous to people in the water or very near the ocean. "Significant widespread inundation is not expected for areas in an advisory," the advisory read. The other coastal counties affected by the warning include San Francisco, San Mateo, Marin and Monterey counties, but Gudgel said the Santa Cruz area is more vulnerable than the rest because its southerly exposure lines up with the path of the tsunami.
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Tsunami hits Samoa following major (7.9 or 8.3...some discrepancy) earthquake. Some deaths. Number unknown. Hawaii under tsunami watch. Update: people moving to higher ground.
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