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Image:Tsunami damage in Samoa

Asia

Tsunami strikes Samoa islands

A huge 8.0 earthquake churns up a giant tsunami that devastated the Samoa islands, killing dozens as it tore through resorts and villages.  

/ 24 PHOTOS
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A car is embedded in the wall of the Jehovah's Witness hall in Pago Pago, the tsunami devastated capital of American Samoa on Saturday, Oct. 3. The ferocious waves were unleashed by a 8.0 magnitude undersea quake which rattled the region on September 29, leaving as many as 180 people dead in American Samoa.

— Torsten Blackwood / AFP
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An aerial photo shows the debris left behind in a lagoon by the tsunami that ravaged the town of Leone in American Samoa on Saturday.

— Rick Bowmer / AP
Image: Television sits at the water's edge at the tsunami destroyed village of Saleapaga on Samoa's southern coast

A television sits at the water's edge at the tsunami destroyed village of Saleapaga on Samoa's southern coast on Friday, Oct. 2.

— Tim Wimborne / X01371
Image: Samoan policeman searches for tsunami victims on Samoa's southern coast

A Samoan policeman searches for tsunami victims in the village of Saleapaga on Samoa's southern coast on Friday.

— Tim Wimborne / X01371
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A New Zealand Air Force plane surveys the damage over the southern coast of Samoa on Sept. 30. At least 149 people have been confirmed dead after a tsumani triggered by an undersea earthquate destroyed coastal settlements in Samoa and Western Samoa.

— Torsten Blackwood / AFP
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Tsunami damage outside Apia, the capital of Samoa on Wednesday.

— Brett Phibbs / New Zealand Herald
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A man searches through the rubble of a destroyed village outside Apia on Sept. 30. Samoan police commander Lilo Maiava said that search and rescue efforts may take a week or more.

— Brett Phibbs / New Zealand Herald
Image: Samoan police carry the body of a tsunami victim found in the water near Matavai on the southern coast of Western Samoa

Samoan police carry the body of a tsunami victim found in the water near Matavai on the southern coast of Western Samoa.

— Tim Wimborne / X01371
Image: The devastation caused by the earthquake-generated tsunami is seen on the south coast of Western Samoa

The devastation caused by the earthquake-generated tsunami is seen on the south coast of Western Samoa in this aerial photograph.

— Ho / X80001
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A young boy sits on a milk crate playing a guitar in the rubble of a destroyed village outside Apia on Sept. 30.

— Brett Phibbs / New Zealand Herald
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Bodies are carried to a waiting hearse at Motootua Hospital in Apia, Samoa, to be transported to the morgue. Samoa Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele said most of the Samoan dead were elderly and young children.

— Brett Phibbs / New Zealand Herald
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Survivors in the devasted streets of Pago Pago, the capital of American Samoa.

— Ausage Fausia / SamoaNews.com
Image: Tsunami aftermath

The tsunami, which most impacted the South Pacific islands of Samoa, also struck Hihifo on the western side of Tonga.

— Pesi Fonua / Vava'u Press Ltd
Image: 8.3 Magnitude Earthquake Triggers Tsunami On Pacific Islands

People walk amongst the debris in Lalomanu, Samoa, on Sept. 30, a day after a quake struck the island nation as well as neighboring American Samoa.

— Phil Walter / Getty Images AsiaPac
Image: 8.3 Magnitude Earthquake Triggers Tsunami On Pacific Islands

A man surveys the devastation at the beach in Lalomanu, Samoa.

— Phil Walter / Getty Images AsiaPac
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A damaged building and truck in Pago Pago, the capital of American Samoa, after an 8.0-magnitude quake and tsunami struck in the early morning of Sept. 29.

— John Newton / AFP
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A resident walks past debris in a playground and a tennis park in Pago Pago. The quake also caused damaged in neighboring Samoa, which is an independent island nation.

— Fili Sagapolutele / AP
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A damaged boat inside a building in Pago Pago, on American Samoa.

— John Newton / AFP
Image: A scientist shows a graph on a computer monitor registered during the earthquake in the Pacific off the Samoa islands region as he poses for the media in Potsdam

A scientist at Germany's Geoscientific Research Institute, GFZ based in Potsdam, south of Berlin, shows a graph on a computer monitor registered during the earthquake off the Samoa islands region.

— Fabrizio Bensch / X00320
Image: A destroyed structure is seen among debris following a tsunami in the village of Leone

A destroyed structure lies amid debris near a church in the village of Leone, American Samoa.

— Str / X80002
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People salvage their belongings from a house damaged from the tsunami that struck the village of Leone, about 10 miles west of the port city of Pago Pago. Everyone in the house survived the tsunami.

— Raj Borsellino / AP
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A resident walks past one of the two caskets with human remains unearthed by the tsunami at the Satala cemetary, which is located just yards away from the ocean in Fagatogo, American Samoa.

— Fili Sagapolutele / AP
Image: Debris is strewn around a church in Leone, American Samoa

Debris is strewn around a church in Leone, American Samoa.

— Ardie Roque / ARDIE ROQUE
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A main road in the downtown area of Fagatogo, American Samoa, is flooded by water.

— Fili Sagapolutele / AP
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