The September 30 tsunami, caused by a major earthquake in the Pacific Ocean, is the most severe natural disaster to occur since President Obama’s term began, and it has directly affected the U.S. territory of American Samoa, making the disaster a domestic priority.

The earthquake, measuring between 8.0 and 8.3 on the Richter scale, was detected by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii, which then projected the path of a probable tsunami and issued a regional warning that extended from American Samoa to New Zealand. However, the wave, which got as high as 7.5 meters (25 feet), struck Samoa, American Samoa, and Tonga within just minutes of the quake, so most living there were unprepared. As I write this, news accounts list the death toll at more than 100 people.

A separate earthquake whose epicenter was 7,600 km (4,700 miles) away hit Indonesia, killing at least 75 people. [UPDATE - the death toll has climbed to nearly 800 people as of October 1.] Indonesia had previously been among those warned about a possible tsunami resulting from the quake near Samoa.

Because American Samoa is a U.S. territory, President Obama was able to declare a “major disaster” for it, and allow immediate assistance from the federal government in Washington to cover temporary housing, home and business repairs, clean-up, unemployment aid and temporary loans. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is dispatching two disaster recovery teams from Hawaii to assess the damage, and the agency is preparing to send relief supplies to survivors from provisions it had pre-positioned in a Hawaii distribution center.

The president said the U.S. Coast Guard is also being deployed to support “the deployment of resources to those areas in need of immediate assistance.”

Offering condolences to the families of those who died, Obama pledged a “full, swift and aggressive response,” and said that along with responding to the needs of the American territory, “We also stand ready to help our friends in Samoa and the region.” The United States and other countries most recently responded to assistance requests from the Philippines as it tries to prevent floods from Tropical Storm Ketsana from turning into a humanitarian disaster.