Living near the Pacific Ocean comes with risks. Earthquakes and tsunamis are part of life in countries like Japan, Chile, and even parts of the United States. But the recent earthquake off Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula was different.

Residents across Japan's Pacific coast rushed to higher ground on Wednesday as tsunami warnings following a massive earthquake off Russia's Far East resurfaced painful memories and lessons from the devastating 2011 earthquake and nuclear disaster.

A powerful earthquake that struck off the coast of Russia generated tsunami warnings and advisories for a broad section of the Pacific, including Alaska, Hawaii and the U.S. West Coast.

Hours after a powerful earthquake struck off Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula, the region's highest volcano began erupting. Geophysicists from the Russian Academy of Sciences reported a strong glow visible at the summit of the 4,750-metre Klyuchevskoy volcano in the Russian Far East.

A tsunami watch has been issued for much of British Columbia's coast after a massive earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 8.7 -- potentially one of the most powerful ever recorded -- struck in the Pacific Ocean off southeastern Russia.