C++: Vector bounds

I am coming from Java and learning C++ in the moment. I am using Stroustrup's Progamming Principles and Practice of Using C++. I am working with vectors now. On page 117 he says that accessing a non-existant element of a vector will cause a runtime error (same in Java, index out of bounds). I am using the MinGW compiler and when I compile and run this code:

#include <iostream>
#include <cstdio>
#include <vector>

int main() 
{ 
    std::vector<int> v(6);
    v[8] = 10;
    std::cout << v[8];
    return 0;
}

It gives me as output 10. Even more interesting is that if I do not modify the non-existent vector element (I just print it expecting a runtime error or at least a default value) it prints some large integers. So... is Stroustrup wrong, or does GCC have some strange ways of compiling C++?