The story

Military officials hurried relief supplies to the tsunami-battered areas of the Samoa islands on Thursday as the death toll continued to rise and authorities prepared to hold a mass burial.

Samoa Prime Minister Tuilaepa Malielegaoi said 139 people were killed on the island from the tsunami that was triggered by a 8.0-magnitude earthquake earlier in the week. That put the death toll from the disaster at 168, with 22 people killed in nearby American Samoa and seven in Tonga.

The Samoan government was planning a ceremony and mass burial Tuesday for the victims, Malielegaoi said Read full article »

All About American Samoa • Samoa • Tonga • Natural Disasters