Update 6 : Still unclear about extent of damage

A massive earthquake struck the South Pacific on Wednesday morning, according to officials, generating a destructive tsunami that struck at least several islands and killed scores of people. Tsunami warnings have since been canceled, and the exact scale of destruction is still unclear.

The earthquake, which had a preliminary magnitude of 7.9 to 8.3, struck 127 miles south-southwest of Apia, Samoa and about 139 miles southwest of Pago Pago on American Samoa. The tremor, which struck at 6.45 a.m. local time, had a depth of about 30 miles, making it a fairly shallow earthquake. Shallow earthquakes often tend to cause more damage, and increase the risk of a destructive tsunami.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center immediately issued a tsunami warning for American Samoa, Samoa, Niue, Wallis-Futuna, Tokelau, Cook Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Kiribati, Kermadec Islands, Fiji, Howland-Baker, Jarvis Island, New Zealand, French Polynesia, Palmyra Island, Vanuatu, Nauru, Marshall Island, the Solomon Islands, Johnston Island, New Caledonia, Kosrae, Papua New Guinea, Pohnpei and Wake Island but canceled them several hours later.

A spokeswoman for the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center told BNO News that a 13.1 foot (4 meter) tsunami had hit the harbor of Pago Pago on American Samoa, but said she had no information about possible casualties. The first floor of at least one government building in Pago Pago was inundated with water, she added. New Zealand media reported that at least one entire village was "flattened" by the tsunami, and local KSBS-FM radio reported that at least 19 people were killed on the island.

"Based on all available data a tsunami may have been generated by this earthquake that could be destructive on coastal areas even far from the epicenter," a bulletin from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center read. Hours later, the exact extent of the destruction was not yet clear. (BNO NEWS )

Update 5 :Tsunami Tracking

"I can confirm there is damage, I can confirm there are deaths and I can confirm there are casualties," the police spokeswoman said by phone. "I cannot say any more at the moment." (Yahoo )

Reynolds told a Yellowstone dispatch operator that four tsunami waves, each 15 to 20 feet high, reaching half-mile to mile (1.6 miles) inland on island of Tutuila, where the village of Pago Pago is.

Other estimates say the waves were 5 to 10  feet above normal sea level, according to the Pacific Western Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii. American Samoa is a tiny U.S. territory that lies about halfway between Hawaii and New Zealand. It is home to about 65,000 people.

The tsunami warning center said that based on all available data a tsunami may have been generated by this earthquake that could be "destructive on coastal areas even far from the epicenter."

Update 4 - Deaths reported from Samoa Tsunami - Villages leveled

New Zealander Graeme Ansell said the beach village of Sau Sau Beach Fale was leveled. 

The temblor generated three separate tsunami waves that are spreading, the largest of which measures 5.1 feet from sea level height, said Vindell Hsu, a geophysicist with the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Ewa Beach, Hawaii. Preliminary data had originally reported a larger tsunami.

A tsunami warning was in effect for American Samoa, Samoa, Cook Islands, Tonga and Fiji, among others in the South Pacific archipelago, according to a bulletin from the center.

A tsunami watch was issued for islands farther from the epicenter, including Hawaii and Papua New Guinea.

Officials were determining whether the tsunami could reach Hawaii, the center said. It was possible that a very decreased wave could reach Hawaii at 1:18 p.m. (7:18 ET), Hsu said.

The quake is not expected to generate a tsunami along the west coast of the United States or Canada, according to the West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center.

Further details were not immediately available.

Tsunami His American Samoa after 8.3 Earthquake 

"It was very quick. The whole village has been wiped out," Ansell told National Radio from a hill near Samoa's capital, Apia. "There's not a building standing. We've all clambered up hills, and one of our party has a broken leg. There will be people in a great lot of need 'round here."

A tsunami swept into Pago Pago, capital of American Samoa, shortly after the earthquake, sending sea water surging inland about 100 yards before receding, leaving some cars stuck in mud.

The staff of the port ran to higher ground, and police soon came by, telling residents to get inland.

In Fagatogo, water reached the waterfront town's meeting field and covered portions of the main highway, which also was plagued by rock slides.

In Samoa, the powerful quake jolted people awake.

"It was pretty strong; it was long and lasted at least two minutes," one resident told local radio.

"It's the strongest I have felt, and we ran outside. You could see all the trees and houses were shaking," he said.

Sulili Dusi told New Zealand's National Radio that "everything dropped on the floor and we thought the house was going to go down as well. Thank God, it didn't." Along with neighbors, they fled to high ground.

She said the tsunami hit the south side of the island, and some "cars have been taken." She did not elaborate, but added "we just thank God no life has been taken yet."

Another resident, Dean Phillips, said the southern coast of Upolu island had been struck by the tsunami.

"The police are sending everybody up to high ground," he said.

Local media said they had reports of some landslides in the Solosolo region of the main Samoan island of Upolu and damage to plantations in the countryside outside Apia.

There were no immediate reports of injury or serious damage from local emergency services, but people reported cracks in some homes and items tossed from shelves.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Honolulu issued a tsunami warning for numerous islands in the Pacific, including the Samoas, the Cook Islands, Tonga, Fiji, New Zealand, French Polynesia and Palmyra Island.

The center posted a tsunami watch for Hawaii, Vanuatu, the Marshall Islands, Solomon Island, Johnston Island, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, Wake Island, Midway Island and Pitcairn.

In New Zealand, a tsunami alert was issued by national Civil Defense, and the nation's national emergency center was activated.