Tsunami waves reach California, Hawaii and Japan after 8.8-magnitude earthquake but warnings downgraded: Live updates

A team of medics was in the middle of surgery in the Far Eastern Russian city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky when Wednesday’s very powerful magnitude 8.8 earthquake shook their equipment and the floor beneath them.

The medics used their hands to try to steady both the patient and their equipment, CCTV footage released by the Kamchatka region’s Health Ministry showed.

“Despite the danger, the doctors remained calm and stayed with the patient until the very end,” Oleg Melnikov, the minister, wrote on Telegram. He gave no details of the surgery but added that the patient was currently out of danger.

Authorities in Ecuador’s Galapagos Islands have put in place precautionary evacuations to safe zones due to a tsunami risk.

It is one of several South American nations who have issued warnings and alerts.

Columbia has downgraded its initial tsunami alert to an advisory.

Meanwhile, Chile has issued a red alert for Pascua Island while a tsunami alert is in effect for much of its northern and central coastline.

Tsunami waves began hitting the Marquesas Islands in French Polynesia early on Wednesday – but the waves are now forecast to be smaller than initially feared.

The highest wave heights are yet to come, but they are now expected to reach 1.1 to 2.5 metres, down from a previous forecast of up to 4 metres, the High Commission of the Republic in French Polynesia said.

Some initial wave surges were reported on the island of Nuku Hiva, and between five and 10 additional ocean waves are expected in the coming hours, the high commission said.

A volcano in Russia has begun erupting after Wednesday’s powerful earthquake.

Lava was seen coming from the Klyuchevskoy volcano on Russia’s Kamchatka peninsula on Wednesday.

In a statement posted on Telegram, the Russian Academy of Sciences’ United Geophysical Service said: “A descent of burning hot lava is observed on the western slope. Powerful glow above the volcano, explosions.”

Located around 450 km (280 miles) north of the regional capital, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Klyuchevskoy is one of the highest volcanoes in the world.

It has erupted several times in recent years.

Japan has downgraded its last remaining tsunami alert but tsunami advisories remain in place for its Pacific coast.

The US National Tsunami Warning Centre says the tsunami advisory is cancelled for a stretch of the southern coastal area of California, from the California-Mexico border to Rincon Point, California.

A volcano in Russia’s far east has started erupting after the earthquake, Russian state news agency RIA is reporting.

The Klyuchevskoy volcano is on the Kamchatka peninsula.