One of the most powerful earthquakes ever recorded has sent a tsunami crashing into a Russian port and smaller waves barreling across the Pacific to the Americas and south to New Zealand.

An 8.8-magnitude earthquake struck off Russia’s eastern coast on late Wednesday morning, local time. The quake triggered tsunami waves across the Pacific that hit Russia, Japan, Canada and parts of the US coast.

Memories are more recent – and much more raw – in Japan, where the March 11, 2011, Great East Japan Earthquake struck with a force of 9.0 off the northeast coast, triggering a tsunami that caused widespread destruction and a meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, killing more than 20,000 people.