113 killed in Pacific earthquake, tsunami

Apia: Towering tsunamis churned up by a huge earthquake slammed into the Samoan islands, killing at least 113 people as they wiped out entire villages and flattened tourist resorts.      Monster waves that witnesses and officials said measured between three and 7.5 metres high pounded the remote Pacific islands of Samoa and Western Samoa after an 8.0-magnitude undersea quake struck in the early morning.      While the quake toppled buildings and sent thousands fleeing to high ground as the tsunami approached, many others were hit by the walls of water that swept people and cars out to sea and obliterated coastal settlements. US President Barack Obama called the incident in the outlying US territory of American Samoa a "major disaster" and vowed "aggressive" action to help survivors. "I am closely monitoring these tragic events, and have declared a major disaster for American Samoa, which will provide the tools necessary for a full, swift and aggressive response," he said. Samoa's Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi said he was "shocked beyond belief." "So much has gone. So many people are gone," he told the Australian news agency AAP.  The tsunamis swept across the Pacific, battering Samoa where hospital workers said it killed at least 84 people, American Samoa where it felled 22, and Tonga, where at least seven people died. As Australia, New Zealand and the US led with immediate pledges of assistance, scores more people were missing feared dead in the chaos and despair that the twin disaster left in its wake.  Up to 70 villages stood in the way of the waves in the worsthit area and each housed from 300-800 people. "We are getting reports of missing people in areas where damage is extensive on the south and southeast coasts," local journalist Jona Tuiletufuga said. "Entire villages have been wiped out." AFP