* URGENT — New tsunami warnings and watches issued as threat from deadly Pacific earthquake continues: http://news.bnonews.com/upti less than a minute ago
A witness told Radio New Zealand that villages on the south-east coast of Samoa’s Upolu had been flattened by the earthquake and that police were moving people to higher ground. It also said that a 10 foot (3 meter) tsunami struck its coast, a spokeswoman for the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center was not immediately able to confirm that.
Shaking near the epicenter reportedly lasted up to three minutes.
A number of aftershocks also hit the area after the initial earthquake. “We are seeing a lot of activity in the area,” a spokesman for the United States Geological Survey said, who also warned that more stronger aftershocks should be expected. So far, three moderate earthquakes have been recorded with preliminary magnitudes of 5.6, 5.6 and 5.8.
The danger on the north coast of Samoa is that there is only one road and very few going inland away from the coast, 90% of Samoans live within 1/2km of shoreline in that area and difficult to get away quickly
TSUNAMI EXPECTED TO HIT NEW ZEALAND - COROMANDEL ISSUED WARNING................