APIA (AFP) –
The death toll from a massive South Pacific earthquake and tsunami has risen to at least 28, with a minimum of 14 reported dead in both Samoa and American Samoa, the Red Cross and media reports said.

The toll is expected to rise as rescue teams work their way through the worst hit areas and assess the full extent of the damage.

"We are on our way to the south coast where our people have told us of 11 deaths and we heard on the radio of another three," the secretary general of the Red Cross in Samoa, Talutala Mauala told AFP.

"There have also been some injuries. We won't know the full extent of the damage until we get there and see for ourselves."

Radio KSBS-FM reported at least 14 people were killed in the Poloa, Asili, Pago Pago and Leone areas of American Samoa