WELLINGTON, Sept 30 (Reuters) - A South Pacific tsunami killed an unknown number of people in Western Samoa on Wednesday, a local police spokeswoman said, as the island nation’s people fled to higher ground after a big sub-sea quake.

“The tsunami has struck some parts of the country,” a local police spokeswoman said by phone. Asked if there had been any deaths, she added: “Yes” and then hung up.

The epicenter of the 8.0 magnitude quake was located 120 miles (190 km) southwest of American Samoa, which lies near Western Samoa, the U.S. Geological Survey said. (Reporting by Adrian Bathgate, editing by Mark Bendeich)