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A tsunami has hit the coastal areas of American Samoa and Samoa following a powerful earthquake with a magnitude of up to 8.3.
One person is reported dead with New Zealand authorities bracing for metre-high waves, while a tsunami alert has also been issued for Fiji and Tonga.
Coastal residents fled to higher ground with the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre saying waves 1.57 metres (five feet) tall hit American Samoa, while 0.7 metre waves were recorded in Samoa.
The centre had earlier issued a tsunami warning for a large swathe of the South Pacific including Fiji, New Zealand and Tonga after the US Geological Survey (USGS) reported a 7.9 magnitude quake.
The centre later said an 8.3 magnitude quake had been recorded at a depth of 33 kilometres (21 miles). It was not immediately clear if this was the same quake and the USGS's website did not provide exact details of its location.
"Sea level readings indicate a tsunami was generated," said a statement from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre.
"It may have been destructive along coasts neat the earthquake epicentre and could alo be a threat to more distant coasts. Authorities should take appropriate action in response to this possibility."
Samoa resident Keni Lesa told AFP in the capital Apia that people were moving inland.
"I'm taking my family to a safe place. Everyone's getting out of coastal areas," he said.
But Lesa said there was no panic as "we have done a lot of training for this," living on a low lying island in an earthquake prone area.
There were no immediate reports of damage from the earthquake, apart from a few landslips.
In its preliminary earthquake report, the US Geological Survey put the epicentre 204 kilometres south-southwest of Samoa's capital Apia and at a depth of 85 kilometres.
The USGS said the region was struck by a 5.6 magnitude quake around 20 minutes after the first.
