Tsunami death toll in S. Pacific rises to 160

Supplies were brought into the tsunami ravaged towns in the South Pacific on Thursday as the death toll reached 160 and was expected to rise.

Convoys of military vehicles brought food, water and medicine to the Samoas. The United States, Australia and New Zealand sent in supplies and troops, including a U.S. Navy frigate carrying two helicopters that will be used in search-and-rescue efforts.

Doctors and nurses were sent to villages, and a refrigerated freight container was being used as a temporary morgue for the scores of bodies showing up at a Samoan hospital

The tsunami, triggered by a powerful earthquake on Tuesday, swept ashore in Samoa, American Samoa and Tonga, flattening villages and sweeping cars and people out to sea.

"The devastation caused was complete," Samoan Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele told New Zealand's National Radio on Wednesday after inspecting the southeast coast of the main island of Upolu, the most heavily hit area.

"In some villages absolutely no house was standing. All that was achieved within 10 minutes by the very powerful tsunami."

Samoan police Cmdr. Lilo Maiava said the death toll was likely to rise.

120 reported dead in Samoa

"It may take a week, two weeks or even three weeks" to complete the search for the many people still missing, he said.

Tuilaepa said the death toll so far in Samoa was 120, while in American Samoa Gov. Togiola Tulafono said at least 31 people were killed. Officials in the island country of Tonga said nine people have been reported dead.

The Department of Foreign Affairs in Ottawa said Wednesday that it is only aware of one Canadian who has been affected by the tsunami. That person was not injured and is receiving aid from the Australian High Commission in Samoa, which is responsible for Canadian consular activities on the island.

Little time to react to warning

Tuesday's quake, with a magnitude between 8.0 and 8.3, struck around dawn about midway between Samoa and American Samoa.

Four tsunami waves between four and six metres in height roared ashore on American Samoa, reaching up to 1½ kilometres inland, said Mike Reynolds, superintendent of the National Park of American Samoa.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii said it issued an alert, but the waves arrived so quickly residents had only 10 minutes to respond.

"To me it was like a monster — just black water coming to you. It wasn't a wave that breaks, it was a full force of water coming straight," said Luana Tavale, an American Samoa government employee.

'Many parents died trying to protect their children'

New Zealand school teacher Charlie Pearse spoke to New Zealand's TV One News from a hospital bed in Samoa, choking back tears as she described how the wave hit her and a group of 20 children trying to flee in the back of a truck.

"We all went under the water and I think a number of the children died instantly," Pearse said.

"I asked, 'Is this my time to come home? Take me home, I'm ready,' and I let my breath out and I took a big gulp of water ... and I don't know, I just popped out [from under the water]," she said.

Tony Fauena, a taro farmer on the island of Upolu said his niece ran home to rescue her six-month old son. Villagers found the bodies of the mother and son entangled in uprooted trees about 200 metres from the ocean.

"Many parents died trying to protect their children," Fauena told The Associated Press from the ruins of his brother's home in the village of Sale Ataga.

150,000 people affected

The Samoa Red Cross said it has opened five temporary shelters and estimated that about 15,000 people were affected by the tsunami.

U.S. President Barack Obama has declared a major disaster for American Samoa and the Federal Emergency Management Agency has also deployed teams to provide support and assess damage.

Australian officials said they will send an air force plane carrying 20 tonnes of humanitarian aid, as well as aid officials and medical personnel to Samoa, while New Zealand agreed on Thursday to provide about $774 million in aid to Samoa, Tonga and the Samoan Red Cross.

The earthquake and tsunami were large, but not on the same scale of the Indonesian tsunami that killed more than 150,000 across Asia the day after Christmas in 2004, said tsunami expert Brian Atwater of the U.S. Geological Survey in Seattle.

The 2004 earthquake was at least 10 times stronger than the 8.0 to 8.3 measurements being reported for Tuesday's quake.