(CNN) -- An earthquake with a magnitude of 7.9 struck in the Samoan Islands region Tuesday, the U.S. Geological Survey said.


An earthquake with a magnitude of 7.9 struck in the Samoan Islands region Tuesday.

The temblor generated a nearly 10-foot (3-meter) tsunami -- measured from crest to trough -- according to preliminary data, said Chip McCreery, the director of the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Ewa Beach, Hawaii.

A tsunami warning was in effect for American Samoa, Samoa, Cook Islands, Tonga and Fiji, among others in the South Pacific archipelago, according to a bulletin from the center.

A tsunami watch was issued for islands farther from the epicenter, including Hawaii and Papua New Guinea. See a map of where the earthquake hit »

Officials were determining whether the tsunami could reach Hawaii, the center 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.

Further details were not immediately available.

There were no immediate reports of damage.

The quake was recorded at 6:48 a.m. (1:28 p.m. ET) at a depth of about 7.4 miles (11.9 km), the USGS reported

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 temblor, with a magnitude of 8.0, generated three separate tsunami waves, the largest of which measured 5.1 feet from sea level height, Vindell Hsu, a geophysicist with the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center told CNN. Preliminary data originally reported a larger tsunami.

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.

After about an hour, officials said it was safe to return home, he said. source: