LALOMANU, Samoa — Hundreds of survivors of the Samoas tsunami gathered at a church on high ground to mourn lost relatives, while pledging to rebuild their obliterated communities after a disaster that killed 177 people.

The Congregational Christian Church of Lalomanu was packed with about 1,000 people, including relatives from Australia and New Zealand and rescue workers, for a belated funeral service Sunday for 52 friends and loved ones. A national prayer service also was held in neighboring American Samoa.

Outside the church in Lalomanu, the bereaved hugged and wept. Failuga Gase, whose home was destroyed, cried silently for four family members.

“It’s a special occasion to memorialize those” who died, the father of three told The Associated Press. “In our usual way, we have a grave ceremony for those who have died, one by one.”

The losses were inflicted when tsunami waves roared ashore after an underwater earthquake struck last Tuesday with a magnitude of up to 8.3. The death toll rose by one Sunday to 136 in Samoa after officials identified decomposed human remains, government spokes-woman Vaosa Epa said. Thirty-two people were killed in American Samoa, and nine in nearby Tonga.

The church in Lalomanu was unscathed by the giant wave, because it is built on higher ground than the many beachside homes that were destroyed.

Luluu Berns said her sister, brother-in-law and their seven children had all survived, although at one point the 16-month-old youngest child was missing.

“Five hours later, they found this little boy on the beach,” she said. “He was face down and the father found him and brought him up and shook him a little and he was still alive.”

Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele joined hundreds of Samoans for a memorial service involving most of Samoa’s Christian denominations in the capital Apia, on the opposite side of Upolu’s devastated southeast coast. Sailele’s own village of Lesa was washed away by the giant wave, and two relatives were killed.

On American Samoa, a U.S. territory, about 1,000 worshippers packed the pews for a two-hour national prayer service at the Congregational Christian Church in the town of Tafuna.

Gov. Togiola Tulafono praised the generosity of residents and the Samoan spirit, noting that many have opened their homes to those who lost theirs.