One of the most powerful earthquakes in modern history shook Russia’s remote east coast Wednesday, sending tsunami waves hurtling across the Pacific Ocean and putting nations from Japan to the United States to Chile on high alert with millions urged to evacuate.

A magnitude 8.8 earthquake struck off Russia's coast, triggering tsunami alerts for the U.S. West Coast and prompting evacuation warnings in Hawaii.

A magnitude 8.2 earthquake caused a tsunami that killed more than 5,200 people on Dec. 30, 1703, according to NOAA data. The event occurred off the southwest Boso Peninsula, which is just south of Tokyo, Japan.

One of this century’s most powerful earthquakes struck off the coast of Russia and generated tsunami warnings and advisories for a broad section of the Pacific as far south as New Zealand

Past strong earthquakes have caused massive and damaging waves far away, but scientists say these tsunami waves were tame by comparison across the Pacific basin.