Natural Disasters: Earthquake in Russia, Wildfires in Turkey, Greece

July 30 (Reuters) - A very powerful magnitude 8.8 earthquake off Russia's Far Eastern Kamchatka coast on Wednesday triggered tsunami warnings as far away as French Polynesia and Chile, and was followed by an eruption of the most active volcano on the peninsula.

The shallow quake damaged buildings and injured several people in the remote Russian region, while much of Japan's eastern seaboard - devastated by a 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami in 2011 - was ordered to evacuate, as were parts of Hawaii.

By the evening, Japan, Hawaii and Russia had downgraded most tsunami warnings. But authorities in French Polynesia warned residents of several of the remote Marquesas Islands to move to higher ground and expect waves as high as 2.5 metres (8 feet).

Tsunami waves began hitting the Marquesas on Wednesday but were forecast to be smaller than initially feared, local authorities said.

Some initial wave surges were reported on Nuku Hiva, the largest of the Marquesas, about 1,400 km northeast of Tahiti, and between five to 10 additional waves were expected in the coming hours, the high commission said.

Russian scientists said the quake in Kamchatka was the most powerful to hit the region since 1952. The U.S. Geological Survey said it was shallow, at a depth of 19.3 km (12 miles), and centred 119 km (74 miles) east-southeast of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, a city of 165,000.

"It felt like the walls could collapse any moment. The shaking lasted continuously for at least three minutes," said Yaroslav, 25, in the city.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said there had been no casualties in Russia, crediting solid building construction and the smooth operation of alert systems.

Firefighters battle blazes in Turkey, Greece and Albania

ATHENS, July 28 (Reuters) - Firefighters battled on Monday to put out wildfires in three separate provinces of Turkey, in Greece and near a tourist resort in Albania, stoked by strong winds after days of searing heat across the Mediterranean region.

Smoke billowed over the mountainous Black Sea province of Karabuk, 200 kilometres (125 miles) north of the capital Ankara, as a wildfire which raged for a sixth day forced the evacuation of more than a dozen villages and burnt swathes of forests.

In the northwestern province of Bursa, three firefighters were killed on Sunday when their vehicle crashed, Turkey's Forestry Ministry said on Monday. Crews fought two separate blazes there on Monday, following the evacuation of more than 3,600 people from settlements in the southern provinces of Mersin and Antalya.

Turkey has suffered dozens of wildfires in recent weeks as temperatures have soared, and 10 firefighters were killed last week battling a blaze in the central Eskisehir province.

Hot and dry summers are common in the Mediterranean region, but more intense heatwaves have contributed to destructive wildfires in recent years amid fast-rising temperatures across the globe.

At least 44 wildfires broke out in Greece in the past 24 hours, the fire brigade said on Monday afternoon.