A new report on tsunami preparedness says residents of American Samoa had only 8 minutes warning before it was hit by the tsunami on September 29 last year.
32 people in the Territory were killed in the disaster.
But the report says residents were issued a warning 16 minutes after an 8 point magnitude earthquake was detected.
It says that meant locals in American Samoa had an eight minute warning before the tsunami struck, while people in Samoa had 28 minute warning.
The National Research Council report looked at how the US coastal communities are prepared in the event of a tsunami.
The report was released to the U.S. Congress.
The report comes amid tsunami drills and emergency preparedness activities for this month in American Samoa.
The US Territory will be marking the one-year anniversary of last September's tsunami with territory-wide church serve and a holiday been declared as a day of remembrance of the victims.
