The Samoa Government has advised of the activation of the National Emergency Operation Centre (NEOC) following reports of increasing seismic activity in neighbouring American Samoa.

In a statement issued by the Disaster Advisory Committee on the Samoa Government's official Facebook page at around 11.13 pm on Saturday night (Samoa Time), authorities said the NEOC has been activated and is now monitoring the situation closely.

"Vailu'ulu'u is a conical seamount, the youngest and easternmost volcano in the Samoan archipelago," the Committee's statement reads.

"This underwater volcano was discovered active in 2017 by an American Samoan expedition of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

"The Samoa Meteorology Office is monitoring closely a continuing earthquake swarm occuring in the Manu'a islands of American Samoa.

"This cluster of earthquakes is most likely related to the Vailu'ulu'u seamount and or the nearby submarine volcanoes in the American Samoa region."

Last Monday 8 August 2022, the American Samoa Government's Department of Homeland Security issued an information statement to activate their Emergency Operational Centre, due to an increasing number of shaking activities reported in Ofu and Fitiuta of Manu'a. 

According to the Committee's statement issued late Saturday night, since last Wednesday a total of 41 tremors in the American Samoa region has been picked up by the Samoa Meteorology Seismic Network, with the magnitude of the tremors ranging from 2.3 to 3.6 on the richter scale.

"There have been ongoing discussions between the Samoa Meteorology Office, the American Samoa Weather Office, the US NOAA, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre in Hawaii and the US Geological Survey since Thursday 11 August 2022 to share information and resources to better understand the source of these earthquakes."