Andy and Angie Belcher didn't even have time to unpack their bags before the tsunami hit.

As day breaks the clean-up begins in the coastal area of south-east Upolu Island, which bore the brunt of the post-quake sea surge.

Salamasina Taufua tried desperately to keep her 8-month-old baby above water before Samoa's tsunami forced her to let her go.

New Zealand tourists have told of their terror when the tsunami smashed through their Samoan beach resort.

The tsunami death toll reaches at least 149 as new tales of devastation emerge.

Many of the Kiwis in a Samoan hospital suffered internal injuries when struck by the seven metre high tsunami waves, says a NZ MP who visited them.

A group of high school students spent a day and night stranded on a tiny island off Samoa, after watching the tsunami sweep away their belongings.

Aid has begun arriving in Samoa in what will be an ongoing effort as the scale of devastation from the quake and tsunami becomes clear.

The death toll for tourists in Samoa could rise in some areas where the tsunami warning system may not have worked so well.

A salty smell hangs over the devastated Samoan village of Lalomanu as police teams pick their way through the debris looking for bodies.

Salamasina Taufua was basking in the sun yesterday watching her three young children playing on the sand when a tsunami swept all three away.

A team of Army medics is flying to Samoa to join a civilian medical team that left NZ late last night as the death toll from the tsunami rises.

The families of six students and a teacher killed canyoning near Turangi last year are dismayed police have decided not to lay charges.