The powerful earthquakes that roiled Indonesia and Samoa this week should serve as a reminder to residents along the Pacific "Ring of Fire" - including British Columbia - to always be prepared, experts say.

"We don't expect any direct link between what's happening in the South Pacific and here on the West Coast, but certainly we're a part of the same Pacific 'Ring of Fire,'" said John Cassidy, a seismologist at the Pacific Geoscience Centre.

Earthquakes in the range of magnitude 6.8 to 7.0 hit Vancouver Island in 1918 and 1946, Cassidy said. And in 2001, a 6.8-magnitude temblor hit Seattle.

"Every day we're one day closer to a big earthquake in this region. .... It's coming. We just don't know when."

Meanwhile, the death toll has risen to 1,100 in Indonesia, where a second earthquake hit Thursday one day after a powerful 7.6-magnitude temblor. Thousands more are still believed to be trapped underneath ruins.

The earthquake was powerful enough to sway buildings in Malaysia and Singapore, both hundreds of kilometers away.

And in the tsunami-stricken Samoas, the death toll rose to 160 Thursday.

Samoan government minister, Fiana Naomi, asked about 400 grieving relatives for permission to hold a mass funeral next Tuesday.

Samoans traditionally take their loved ones and bury them near their homes, but that could be impossible because many of their villages have been wiped out by early Tuesday's earthquake and tsunami.

Half way around the world, on Vancouver Island, a man was grieving the loss of his sister, her grandson and her son-in-law after they were swept away in the tsunami.

"They were trying to run away basically. I guess for some reason they didn't get out in time. The wave actually catch up to them," Muavae Va'a told CTV News.

He said it's very difficult to watch the news

"The hardest part is not being able to be there and maybe at least offer comfort to family members," he said.

With a report from CTV British Columbia's Shannon Paterson and The Associated Press