LEONE , American Samoa ( CNN ) -- Taitasi Fitiao was holding her six-year-old daughter 's hand when a tsunami wave crashed onto their coastal village in American Samoa . A man stands on the remains of what was once a tourist resort in Samoa 's capital of Apia . `` I held her hand . The wave got us and that 's when her hand just left mine and I could hear her say , 'Mom , please . ' And then I saw her , I saw her floating away . And I knew right then that she was gone , she was taken from us . '' Taitasi Fitiao ran to her daughter 's school after an 8.0-magnitude earthquake rocked the small cluster of Samoan islands early Tuesday , triggering a tsunami . The teacher had let the students go home after the temblor struck . Fitiao had felt some relief when she briefly united with her daughter , but then the wave came . `` I ca n't believe she 's gone . She 's only six years old , '' she said of her youngest child , Valjorefa Uputaua Fitiao . The villagers of Leone -- one of the largest towns in American Samoa with a population of more than 2,000 -- searched for Valjorefa . They found her about one day after the waves took her from her mother . `` When they found her , she still had her backpack on and school uniform , '' Fitiao said . The Fitiao family plan to bury her with her gray-and-black backpack because she loved school so much . Watch a family mourns the loss of their daughter » . At the family home on Thursday , Valjorefa 's backpack was drying on a clothing line and some crayons and a notebook with her school work were on the ground . They plan to bury her in the front yard , as is the custom here . `` We really miss our daughter , '' said her father , Faataui Fitiao . Ten people , including Valjorefa , died in Leone . Villagers and the U.S. Army reserves are looking for one person still missing : a six-year-old boy , whose family wants to bury him in the front yard , too . Samoa 's prime minister talks about the devastation » . At least 168 people are confirmed dead in the aftermath of Tuesday 's quake and tsunami . They include 22 people killed in American Samoa , 139 in Samoa and seven in Tonga , according to officials on the islands . Watch the tsunami take over a street » | CNN visits a destroyed fishing village » . A second quake , a 5.5-magnitude temblor struck near the Samoan islands at 6:13 p.m. Wednesday evening ( 1:13 a.m. Thursday ET ) , according to the U.S. Geological Survey , while a 6.3-magnitude quake rattled Tonga on Friday . U.S. President Barack Obama addressed the disaster at an event Wednesday in Washington . `` To aid in the response , '' he said , `` I 've declared this a major disaster to speed the deployment of resources and FEMA ... is working closely with emergency responders on the ground , and the Coast Guard is working to provide immediate help to those in need . `` We also stand ready to help our friends in neighboring Samoa and throughout the region , and we 'll continue to monitor this situation closely as we keep the many people who have been touched by this tragedy in our thoughts and in our prayers , '' Obama said .
Latest death toll from Tuesday 's quake in Nepal Taitasi Fitiao loses her six-year-old daughter in the tsunami . Ten people died in Leone from the tragedy . The Fitiao family will bury their daughter in the front yard , as is the custom here .