The Demo Site

At least 17 deaths were confirmed, said Dr. Salamo Laumoli, director of health services of American Samoa.

"Two or three villages have been badly damaged," he told CNN International.

An American Samoa homeland security official working at the island's emergency operations center told CNN that the death toll is expected to rise to at least 20.

The tsunami wave hit right in the middle of the harbor of Pogo Pogo, the capital, Cinta Brown said.

Water damage and infrastructure damage was reported throughout the island, she said.

The village of Leone was "sadly devastated," Brown said. "The wave came onshore and washed out people's homes."

The same happened on the hard-hit east and west sides of American Samoa, she said.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Ewa Beach, Hawaii, canceled tsunami watches and warnings about four hours after the earthquake hit. Watch report on end of tsunami warning »

Officials in American Samoa issued a clear call and were focusing on assessing the damage, Brown 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, though a tsunami advisory was put in place.

Reports of damage were still emerging, but a bulletin from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said the waves "may have been destructive along coasts near the earthquake epicenter and could also be a threat to more distant coasts. Authorities should take appropriate action in response to this possibility."

The quake was recorded at about 6:48 a.m. at a depth of about 7.4 miles (11.9 km), the USGS reported. Early reports had the magnitude at 7.9, but the USGS upgraded that to 8.0 about two hours after the initial report.

Laumoli, the health services director for American Samoa, said the earthquake was so powerful he felt as though the earth might split.

"It was the largest earthquake I have ever felt," he said. Listen to Laumoli speak about the impact of the quake and tsunami »

Brown agreed.

She was standing in a parking lot when the earthquake hit. She said it shook her sports utility vehicle left and right.

"You could hear the rattling of the metal" of a large chain link fence around the lot, Brown said.

"It shakes you because you know something else is coming," she said.

iReporter Genhall Manua Chen said authorities told people to head up Aloau Mountain during the tsunami warning. Cars lined up for evacuation, Chen said. His cousin, who lives in Pago Pago, the capital, said water went inside their store, breaking windows and causing a lot of damage.

MIAMI, FL – A pretty teenager has stunned experts with her bizarre white eyes – which let her see through solid stone and metal!

Laura Castro, 14, was born normal but developed pure white eyes at the age of 10. The Miami, Fla., child has been studied by eye doctors and other experts, but none can explain what causes her rare condition.

“The doctors say they’re never seen anything like this,” said the child’s mother, divorcee Anabel Castro. “My daughter can see anywhere in daylight or in darkness, and she can easily see through solid objects. The doctors say she may have been hit on the head or exposed to chemicals or something.

“All I know is that this came on gradually and that as her brown eyes got lighter and lighter her vision got stronger and stronger.”

Scientists who have studied the X-ray girl anonymously confessed that she can see clearly through 4-inch thick concrete, a steel safe, solid rock walls and thick layers of wood, plastic and paper, including a telephone book!

Examination of her eyes reveals no striking differences other than the fact that the pupil and iris are completely white.

According to Mrs. Castro, Laura first began showing signs of her rare condition shortly after her 10th birthday in 2005. The little girl’s dark brown eyes turned golden color, then gradually faded to white.

“I was real worried and I took her to doctors but they all said Laura’s eyes were normal,” Mrs. Castro recalled. “Then she began seeing through things.

“She woke up one morning and she could see through her own body. She could see her own heart beating and she was screaming. That really scared us.” The panic wore off after a few months, Mrs. Castro says, when Laura adjusted to her new X-ray vision.

Since then, the child’s only complaint is that her schoolmates avoid her because of her looks. “I tell her that she is special and that one day she will be very famous,” Mrs. Castro says.

Doctors have yet to verify Mrs. Castro’s claims on her daughter’s abilities, however she provided Weekly World News reporters with the photo above of Laura being examined.