PACIFIC QUAKE, TSUNAMI KILL 113, FLATTEN VILAGES

PACIFIC QUAKE, TSUNAMI KILL 113, FLATTEN VILAGES
Monster waves pound the remote Pacific islands of Samoa after an 8-magnitude undersea quake topples buildings and sends thousands fleeing to high ground

APIA: Towering tsunamis churned up by a huge earthquake slammed into the Samoan islands on Tuesday, killing at least 113 people as they wiped out entire villages and flattened tourist resorts.
Monster waves that witnesses and officials said measured between three and 7.5 metres high pounded the remote Pacific islands of Samoa and Western Samoa after an 8-magnitude undersea quake struck iearly morning.
While the quake toppled buildings and sent thousands fleeing to high ground as the tsunami approached, many others were hit by the walls of water that swept people and cars out to sea and obliterated coastal settlements.
US President Barack Obama called the incident in the outlying US territory of American Samoa a “major disaster” and vowed “aggressive action” to help survivors.
Samoa’s Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi said he was “shocked beyond belief”. “So much has gone. So many people are gone,” he told the Australian news agency.

7.9-MAGNITUDE QUAKE HITS INDONESIA

A POWERFUL 7.9-magnitude quake struck off Indonesia’s Sumatra island on Wednesday, destroying large buildings and starting fires in the major city of Padang, geologists and reports said.
“A number of hotels in Padang have been destroyed,” Indonesian geophysics and meteorology agency tsunami warning head Rahmat Triyono said, adding the agency did not release a tsunami alert.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre in Hawaii however issued a tsunami watch for Indonesia, Malaysia, India and Thailand. “Up to now we haven’t been able to reach Padang,” Triyono said. AGENCIES