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.

Residents and visitors in Samoa describe the terror of knowing what would be next after a massive quake rocked the tiny island nation

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

Nine New Zealanders are now confirmed injured, and one dead, in today's Samoan tsunami.

Horror stories are emerging in the aftermath of today's 8.3 magnitude quake and tsunami in Samoa.

At least one NZer is dead and three injured, amongst thousands affected by today's earthquake and tsunami in Samoa.

Reports of scores dead, cars thrown into the ocean and fish on the ground following this morning's magnitude 8.3 earthquake.

The Ministry of Civil Defence is warning people to continue to stay away from beaches even though a tsunami warning has been downgraded.

There are unconfirmed reports that 40 people from the Samoan village of Lalomanu - on the south-eastern end of the island of Upolu - have been killed.

Samoan residents have been evacuated from the coast to higher ground after a magnitude 8.3 quake struck this morning, followed by a tsunami.

A rising rugby star who dreams of playing for the All Blacks is at the centre of a poaching row between two top private schools.

Tourism retailers see an upsurge in Kiwi's heading abroad as the strengthening dollar makes overseas travel more appealing.

A mother-of-four killed on her way to the airport to fly home to Vanuatu had spent six months working in NZ to raise money after her husband's death.