Earth Changes · Daily Report · October 1, 2026, 6:30 AM CDT
Hurricane Rachel is churning in the eastern Pacific with top winds near 100 mph and a central pressure of 972 millibars, moving west-northwest at 6 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center.[1] It is one of 3 tropical systems the center is tracking, along with Tropical Storm Nolo and Tropical Depression Nineteen-E.
Meanwhile, the National Weather Service has 140 severe or extreme alerts in effect, led by 97 flood warnings across AZ, FL, IA, IL and more.[2]
Elsewhere, a magnitude 5.6 earthquake struck 94 km SW of Tamarindo, Costa Rica at 9:55 p.m. UTC on Sept. 30, about 8 km (≈5 miles) below the surface, the U.S. Geological Survey reports[3]. The USGS PAGER system rates the expected impact GREEN. It was one of 14 quakes of magnitude 4.5 or greater in the past day.
Today at a Glance
- 14 earthquakes of magnitude 4.5 or greater, the largest M5.6
- 3 active tropical systems: Hurricane Rachel, Tropical Storm Nolo, Tropical Depression Nineteen-E
- 140 severe or extreme U.S. weather alerts
- 4 U.S. volcanoes above normal, including Great Sitkin, Kilauea
- 3 sinkhole reports in the news
Where It’s Happening
Numbered pins match the list under the map. Storm and quake pins are the agencies' reported centers; sinkhole pins mark the town named in the report. Map data: OpenStreetMap contributors.
1. Extreme Weather
Tropical storms and hurricanes
- Hurricane Rachel (eastern Pacific): top winds near 100 mph, moving west-northwest at 6 mph. Latest advisory.[1]
- Tropical Storm Nolo (eastern Pacific): top winds near 45 mph, moving west-northwest at 3 mph. Latest advisory.[1]
- Tropical Depression Nineteen-E (eastern Pacific): top winds near 30 mph, moving east at 14 mph. Latest advisory.[1]
Across the United States, the National Weather Service has 140 alerts rated severe or extreme in effect.[2]
| Alert | Number | States |
|---|---|---|
| Flood Warning | 97 | AZ, FL, IA, IL, KS, MO and more |
| Flood Watch | 19 | CO, IA, IL, KS, MO, MP and more |
| Flash Flood Warning | 11 | IA, OK, TX |
| Extreme Heat Warning | 6 | CA |
| Extreme Heat Watch | 2 | CA |
| Tropical Storm Warning | 2 | MP, PM |
| Freeze Warning | 1 | MN |
| Heavy Freezing Spray Warning | 1 | PK |
| Special Marine Warning | 1 | GM |
The Storm Prediction Center says no severe thunderstorm areas are forecast today.[4]
Around the world, GDACS logged 51 wildfire, 8 flood, 3 earthquake, 2 tropical cyclone notices in the past two days, all at its lowest (Green) level.[5]
Video: AccuWeather, September 29, 2026 — “Waterfall before vs. after Hurricane Nolo”. Matched to this report by the storm, volcano or place name in its title.
2. Earthquakes
The USGS recorded 14 earthquakes of magnitude 4.5 or greater in the past 24 hours.[6] The strongest:
| Mag. | Where | When | Depth | PAGER |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5.6 | 94 km SW of Tamarindo, Costa Rica | Sept. 30, 9:55 p.m. UTC | 8 km | GREEN |
| 5.2 | 7 km ESE of Baghlān, Afghanistan | Oct. 1, 1:29 a.m. UTC | 50 km | — |
| 5.0 | 38 km WSW of Palimbang, Philippines | Oct. 1, 5:34 a.m. UTC | 10 km | — |
| 5.0 | 142 km SE of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Russia | Sept. 30, 6:21 p.m. UTC | 35 km | — |
| 4.9 | 145 km ESE of Neiafu, Tonga | Oct. 1, 8:45 a.m. UTC | 10 km | — |
| 4.9 | northern Mid-Atlantic Ridge | Oct. 1, 12:28 a.m. UTC | 10 km | — |
| 4.9 | 136 km SE of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Russia | Sept. 30, 6:36 p.m. UTC | 32 km | — |
| 4.7 | northern Mid-Atlantic Ridge | Oct. 1, 10:03 a.m. UTC | 10 km | — |
PAGER is the USGS estimate of likely deaths and damage: GREEN means little or none expected, RED means extensive. A dash means none was issued.
3. Volcanoes
In the United States, 4 volcanoes are above normal background activity, according to the U.S. Geological Survey’s observatories:
| Volcano | Alert / aviation code | Latest word from scientists |
|---|---|---|
| Great Sitkin | Watch / Orange | Slow eruption of lava within the summit crater continues.[7] |
| Kilauea | Watch / Orange | A shallow intrusion of magma is occurring within the summit region near the existing eruption location in Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park.[8] |
| Ahyi Seamount | Advisory / Yellow | No plumes seen in satellite images; no significant geophysical signals.[9] |
| Shishaldin | Advisory / Yellow | Low-level unrest continues.[7] |
Alert levels run Normal, Advisory, Watch, Warning. Aviation codes run Green, Yellow, Orange, Red.
4. Sinkholes
No government agency publishes a live national sinkhole feed, so these come from today’s local news:
- KOAT reports, “Vehicle removed after getting stuck in Los Lunas parking lot sinkhole Advertisement Digital Assignment Editor Vehicle removed after getting stuck in Los Lunas parking lot sinkhole Digital Assignment Editor Crews are currently at the scene repairing a sinkhole in a parking lot in Los Lunas.”[10]
- News12 reports, “Traffic is flowing a little better in Yonkers after crews repaired a water main break that caused a sinkhole and major traffic delays.”[11]
- urbanacres.in reports, “A sinkhole measuring about 15 feet in diameter and 10 feet deep opened on Perambur Barracks Road near a sewage pumping station in Pulianthope on Tuesday afternoon, prompting the Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (CMWSSB) to barricade the area and begin rectification work.”[12]
Also in the News
Other natural-hazard video from the past day, from news organizations:
Video: Reuters, October 1, 2026 — “Flydubai pilot who averted disaster hailed as hero”. Also in the news. Picked because its title names a natural hazard; it may not be covered in the data above.
Video: NBC News, October 1, 2026 — “Fall storms bringing flood threats to the Southwest”. Also in the news. Picked because its title names a natural hazard; it may not be covered in the data above.
5. What the Experts Say
These are the words of the scientists and forecasters who watch these hazards for a living, quoted exactly.
“Satellite imagery indicates that Rachel's convective structure has improved over the past several hours. Deep convection continues to expand over the center, with cloud-top temperatures as cold as -85 C. The latest subjective Dvorak intensity estimate from TAFB is T4.5/77 kt, while objective estimates have ranged from 65 to 85 kt. Given these estimates and the improved convective organization, the initial intensity is raised to 85 kt.”
— Forecaster Gibbs, National Hurricane Center, on Hurricane Rachel[13]
“Nolo's convection continues to dissipate. Satellite imagery this evening reveals warming cloud-top temperatures across remnant convection to the northwest of the low-level circulation, with dry air across the storm's southern semicircle. The latest subjective Dvorak intensity estimates from both JTWC and HFO rate Nolo at 2.5 or 35 kt, with objective estimates from UW-CIMSS ranging from 32 to 39 kt. Based on these data, Nolo's intensity has been held steady at a generous 40 kt, with the lack of in situ data being the primary reason for making no change.”
— Forecaster Evans/Gibbs, National Hurricane Center, on Tropical Storm Nolo[14]
“Severe thunderstorm potential is low today, but some gusty winds could accompany thunderstorms from parts of Kansas to the eastern half of Texas.”
— NOAA Storm Prediction Center[4]
“Extensive diversity and complexity of tectonic regimes characterizes the perimeter of the Caribbean plate, involving no fewer than four major plates (North America, South America, Nazca, and Cocos). Inclined zones of deep earthquakes (Wadati-Benioff zones), ocean trenches, and arcs of volcanoes clearly indicate subduction of oceanic lithosphere along the Central American and Atlantic Ocean margins of the Caribbean plate, while crustal seismicity in Guatemala, northern Venezuela, and the Cayman Ridge and Cayman Trench indicate transform fault and pull-apart basin tectonics. Along the northern margin of the Caribbean plate, the North America plate moves westwards with respect to the Caribbean plate at a velocity of approximately 20 mm/yr.”
— U.S. Geological Survey, “Seismotectonics of the Caribbean Region and Vicinity,” on the region around the M5.6 quake[15]
“Lava continues to erupt slowly within the summit crater of Great Sitkin Volcano. Minor earthquakes were detected in the past day. Clouds obscured satellite and webcam images.”
— Alaska Volcano Observatory, on Great Sitkin[7]
“Activity Summary: Earthquake activity has increased in the summit region of Kīlauea beneath Halemaʻumaʻu crater and the south caldera region. Ground deformation patterns recorded by summit tiltmeters suggest that magma is intruding beneath the ground in this area, in an east-west orientation, near the western or southern part of Halemaʻumaʻu crater.”
— Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, on Kilauea[8]
“Sinkholes are common where the rock below the land surface is limestone, carbonate rock, salt beds, or other rocks that can naturally be dissolved by groundwater circulating through them. As the rock dissolves, spaces and caverns develop underground. Sinkholes are dramatic because the land usually stays intact for a while until the underground spaces just get too big.”
— U.S. Geological Survey Water Science School, on why sinkholes form[16]
How to Prepare
- Keep a basic kit: water (one gallon per person per day for several days), food, a battery or hand-crank radio, a whistle, a dust mask and phone chargers.[17]
- Get alerts: Wireless Emergency Alerts need no sign-up; the FEMA app, NOAA Weather Radio, the USGS Earthquake Notification Service and the USGS Volcano Notification Service are free.
- Floods: Turn Around, Don’t Drown. Six inches of moving water can knock you down, and one foot can sweep a car away.[18]
- Earthquakes: Drop, Cover and Hold On.[19]
- Download the checklist: Be Ready: Earthquakes, Volcanoes, Extreme Weather and Sinkholes (PDF), with today’s active hazards first.
How to Verify This Yourself
- Earthquakes: USGS Latest Earthquakes map
- U.S. volcanoes: USGS Volcano Hazards Program; world: Smithsonian weekly report
- Weather alerts: weather.gov; tropics: nhc.noaa.gov
- Worldwide disasters: gdacs.org
References
- National Hurricane Center, active storms data nhc.noaa.gov. ↩
- National Weather Service, active alerts API api.weather.gov. ↩
- USGS, M5.6 94 km SW of Tamarindo, Costa Rica event page earthquake.usgs.gov. ↩
- NOAA Storm Prediction Center, Day 1 Convective Outlook spc.noaa.gov. ↩
- GDACS, Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System gdacs.org. ↩
- USGS, M4.5+ earthquakes, past day (real-time feed) earthquake.usgs.gov. ↩
- Alaska Volcano Observatory, Great Sitkin notice volcanoes.usgs.gov. ↩
- Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, Kilauea notice volcanoes.usgs.gov. ↩
- Northern Mariana Islands, Ahyi Seamount notice volcanoes.usgs.gov. ↩
- KOAT, Vehicle removed after getting stuck in Los Lunas parking lot sinkhole koat.com. ↩
- News12, Sinkhole repaired, traffic eases as one lane reopens on busy Yonkers roadway hudsonvalley.news12.com. ↩
- urbanacres.in, Chennai Sinkhole Opens Again Over Ageing Sewage Pipeline urbanacres.in. ↩
- National Hurricane Center, Rachel forecast discussion nhc.noaa.gov. ↩
- National Hurricane Center, Nolo forecast discussion nhc.noaa.gov. ↩
- USGS Geoserve, tectonic summary earthquake.usgs.gov. ↩
- USGS Water Science School, Sinkholes usgs.gov. ↩
- Ready.gov (FEMA), Build a Kit ready.gov. ↩
- Ready.gov (FEMA), Floods ready.gov. ↩
- Ready.gov (FEMA), Earthquakes ready.gov. ↩
Methodology: this report is assembled automatically each morning from the live data feeds of the USGS, the Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program, the National Weather Service, the National Hurricane Center, the Storm Prediction Center and GDACS, plus same-day news reports for sinkholes. No AI writes it: the sentences are fixed templates filled with that data, and every quote is copied exactly from the source it is credited to. Data can change after publication; follow the links for the latest.
Kemetic Minds Editorial Desk
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