The quake sparked a tsunami warning for a large swathe of the South
Pacific although Australia is not expected to be affected.
The quake of up to 8.3 magnitude hit at 6.48am Tuesday local time
(3.48am Wednesday AEST) midway between the two island groups of Samoa
and American Samoa.
There were reports of deaths in American Samoa, although a US official
was unable to confirm numbers.
Samoan police also say the tsunami has caused an unknown number of
deaths there, the ABC reported.
