Utahns worry about family in Samoa

Information regarding LDS Church members, missionaries and facilities in Samoa is still being collected following Tuesday morning's 8.3-magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami.

"The church is monitoring the situation in Samoa following the reported earthquake and tsunami there," said Scott Trotter, spokesman for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, late Tuesday afternoon. "Church leaders in the area are in the process of gathering information and assessing needs."

Although some phone lines may still work, cell-phone communication appears to have completely failed after the first waves dashed into the islands.

"I'm pretty worried about my mom right now," said Samoa native Edwin Su'a, who now lives in Utah. "All she has is a cell phone. I've called her a lot today and nothing … She lives in a village where she doesn't have access to land lines."

Su'a said he would be more worried about his mother's welfare if she lived closer to the islands hard-hit fringes.

"And I know if she needs anything, the (LDS) church members are there and good at taking care of her," he said.

Su'a's mother, Pepetua Su'a, lives in a remote village about five miles inland, he said.

Several phone calls to Samoa's LDS Church Distribution center went unanswered Tuesday.

Calls fell unanswered, too, for Shaun Nua, former BYU football player and current intern for BYU's offense.

"My parents, my whole family are over there," Nua said. "I'm trying to keep positive about it … I tried to call about 20 times, and I can't get through. I hope it's because everybody's calling. Hopefully, it's good news, not bad news. I still haven't talked to anybody back home yet."

Though any long-distance communication to those on American Samoa is spotty, Taylorsville resident Amani Lemusu twice got in touch with his brother Masiano Lemusu, who lives two miles inland on American Samoa.

"They were told to evacuate (about 7 a.m.) and go to the to of the mountains," Amani Lemusu said. "That's were he's been all day, sitting on the mountain."

Masiano Lemusu told his brother many people didn't get the government's warning to evacuate shoreline areas. The only reason he got the warning so early was because his wife works for a government-associated hospital, and she got the official warning there.

Masiano Lemusu left the mountain around 4 p.m. and started the trek back to his village home, which wasn't expected to have incurred any water damage.

— Scott Taylor, Jacob Hancock and Jeff Call