Samoans searched flattened homes and debris-filled swamps as more military ships and planes began arriving on the disaster-stricken Pacific islands after an earthquake and tsunami killed at least 150 people.
The day after the disaster struck, officials were expecting the death toll to rise as more areas were searched, a process that could take several weeks.
A navy frigate carrying two helicopters and medical supplies arrived late Wednesday in American Samoa while the air force dispatched two cargo planes. Australian officials confirmed that they will be sending an air force plane carrying 20 tons of humanitarian aid.
"This is a devastating earthquake and a devastating tsunami," Federal Emergency Management Agency coordinating officer Kenneth Tingman told reporters in American Samoa. "We know that power is paramount but we are also making life-saving and life-sustaining efforts."
The Samoas lie about halfway between New Zealand and Hawaii, to the east of the international date line. A magnitude 8.0 quake struck off Samoa at 2318 IST Tuesday. The islands soon were engulfed by four tsunami waves 4 to 6m high that reached up to a mile (1.5km) inland.
Samoan Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele's own village, Lesa, was washed away like many others' on Samoa and the nearby American Samoa and Tonga.
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