Earth Changes · Daily Report · October 23, 2026, 12:19 AM CDT
A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck 191 km ENE of Nagqu, China at 2:33 p.m. UTC on Oct. 22, about 18 km (≈11 miles) below the surface, the U.S. Geological Survey reports[1]. The USGS PAGER system rates the expected impact ORANGE. It was one of 25 quakes of magnitude 4.5 or greater in the past day.
Meanwhile, GDACS, the UN-backed global disaster alert system, issued a Red alert: Red earthquake (Magnitude 7M, Depth:18km) in China.[2]
Elsewhere, the National Weather Service has 100 severe or extreme alerts in effect, led by 6 blizzard warnings across AK.[3]
Today at a Glance
- 25 earthquakes of magnitude 4.5 or greater, the largest M7.0
- 1 active tropical system: Tropical Storm Vance
- 100 severe or extreme U.S. weather alerts
- 4 U.S. volcanoes above normal, including Great Sitkin
- 2 sinkhole reports in the news
Could not be reached for this edition: Smithsonian weekly volcano report.
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
- Tropical Storm Vance (eastern Pacific): top winds near 70 mph, moving northwest at 6 mph. Latest advisory.[4]
Across the United States, the National Weather Service has 100 alerts rated severe or extreme in effect.[3]
| Alert | Number | States |
|---|---|---|
| Blizzard Warning | 6 | AK |
| Flood Warning | 30 | AZ, CO, FL, GA, NM, UT |
| Storm Warning | 18 | PK |
| Flash Flood Warning | 12 | AZ, NM |
| Flood Watch | 7 | AZ, CO, NM, UT |
| Freeze Watch | 7 | CA, NJ, OR, PA, WA |
| High Wind Warning | 7 | AK, MT |
| Red Flag Warning | 4 | MT, SD, WY |
| Flash Flood Watch | 3 | ID |
| Winter Storm Warning | 3 | AK |
Blizzard Warning issued October 22 at 8:41PM AKDT until October 24 at 10:00AM AKDT by NWS Fairbanks AK (Interior Seward Peninsula): “* WHAT…Blizzard conditions expected. Total snow accumulations between 8 and 15 inches.”
Blizzard Warning issued October 22 at 8:41PM AKDT until October 24 at 1:00AM AKDT by NWS Fairbanks AK (Southern Seward Peninsula Coast): “* WHAT…Blizzard conditions expected. Total snow accumulations between 2 and 6 inches.”
Blizzard Warning issued October 22 at 8:41PM AKDT until October 24 at 4:00AM AKDT by NWS Fairbanks AK (Kivalina and Red Dog Dock; Northern Seward Peninsula): “* WHAT…Blizzard conditions expected. Total snow accumulations between 1 and 3 inches.”
Blizzard Warning issued October 22 at 8:41PM AKDT until October 24 at 1:00AM AKDT by NWS Fairbanks AK (Shishmaref; Bering Strait Coast): “* WHAT…Blizzard conditions expected. Total snow accumulations up to 2 inches.”
The Storm Prediction Center says its highest risk level for severe thunderstorms today is slight, on a scale that runs marginal, slight, enhanced, moderate, high.[5]
Around the world, GDACS, the global disaster alert system run by the United Nations and the European Commission, lists these Orange or Red alerts from the past two days:
- Red: Red earthquake (Magnitude 7M, Depth:18km) in China 22/10/2026 14:33 UTC, 10 thousand (in MMI>=VII).[2]
2. Earthquakes
The USGS recorded 25 earthquakes of magnitude 4.5 or greater in the past 24 hours.[6] The strongest:
| Mag. | Where | When | Depth | PAGER |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7.0 | 191 km ENE of Nagqu, China | Oct. 22, 2:33 p.m. UTC | 18 km | ORANGE |
| 5.2 | 201 km ENE of Nagqu, China | Oct. 22, 3:12 p.m. UTC | 10 km | — |
| 5.0 | 153 km S of Kokopo, Papua New Guinea | Oct. 22, 8:05 p.m. UTC | 10 km | — |
| 5.0 | 207 km ENE of Nagqu, China | Oct. 22, 6:06 p.m. UTC | 10 km | — |
| 4.9 | 104 km NNE of Hihifo, Tonga | Oct. 22, 7:06 p.m. UTC | 23 km | — |
| 4.9 | 210 km ENE of Nagqu, China | Oct. 22, 4:21 p.m. UTC | 10 km | — |
| 4.9 | western Xizang | Oct. 22, 3:45 p.m. UTC | 10 km | — |
| 4.9 | 200 km NW of Port-Olry, Vanuatu | Oct. 22, 12:22 p.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.
Earlier this week: The USGS is also continuing to monitor ongoing aftershocks and impacts from significant earthquakes recorded over the past seven days:[7]
| Mag. | Where | When | Depth | PAGER |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5.7 | 48 km WNW of Khuzdar, Pakistan | Oct. 17, 5:06 a.m. UTC | 10 km | YELLOW |
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.[8] |
| Ahyi Seamount | Advisory / Yellow | Plumes of discolored water seen in satellite imagery; no significant geophysical signals.[9] |
| Kilauea | Advisory / Yellow | The Halema'uma'u eruption of Kīlauea is currently paused after episode 55 fountaining ended on October 17. Summit reinflation continues today and the preliminary forecast for episode 56 fountaining is between October 29 and November 5, 2026.[10] |
| Shishaldin | Advisory / Yellow | Low-level unrest continues.[8] |
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:
- WJLA reports, “Road reopens near Montgomery County middle school after sinkhole closure MONTGEOMERY COUNTY, Md.”[11]
- Riverview: Hoodline reports, “Workers struck a gas line near the intersection of Big Bend Road and U.S. 301 on Thursday, triggering a gas leak and opening a sinkhole that forced a nearby shopping plaza's Chipotle, Walmart, Chase Bank and Burger King to close their doors.”[12]
Also in the News
Other natural-hazard video from the past day, from news organizations:
Video: Reuters, October 23, 2026 — “LIVE: Typhoon Champi approaches Taiwan”. 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 23, 2026 — “Heavy storms bring damage across the West”. Also in the news.
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 Vance continues to become better organized, with an expanding Central Dense Overcast, a well-defined curved convective band wrapping into the circulation from the south, and cloud-top temperatures as cold as -85 C. Upper-level outflow remains well established, and recent microwave imagery reveals an improvement in the inner-core structure compared to several hours ago. The latest subjective Dvorak intensity estimate from TAFB was T4.0/65 kt, in good agreement with UW-CIMSS objective estimates ranging from 55 to 65 kt. Given these estimates and the continued improvement in satellite presentation, the initial intensity is raised to a conservative 60 kt.”
— Forecaster Gibbs, National Hurricane Center, on Tropical Storm Vance[13]
“Scattered severe thunderstorms remain possible across the Southwest and Great Basin tonight. The most intense cells are expected across parts western New Mexico through the remainder of this evening. Large hail, damaging winds, and a tornado or two are all possible.”
— Forecaster Lyons, NOAA Storm Prediction Center[5]
“Seismicity in the Himalaya dominantly results from the continental collision of the India and Eurasia plates, which are converging at a relative rate of 40-50 mm/yr. Northward underthrusting of India beneath Eurasia generates numerous earthquakes and consequently makes this area one of the most seismically hazardous regions on Earth. The surface expression of the plate boundary is marked by the foothills of the north-south trending Sulaiman Range in the west, the Indo-Burmese Arc in the east and the east-west trending Himalaya Front in the north of India.”
— U.S. Geological Survey, “Seismotectonics of the Himalaya and Vicinity,” on the region around the M7.0 quake[14]
“Lava continues to erupt slowly within the summit crater of Great Sitkin Volcano, with satellite-based radar showing continued growth of the south lobe of the lava dome. A few small earthquakes were detected in the past day. Slightly elevated surface temperatures observed in satellite views.”
— Alaska Volcano Observatory, on Great Sitkin[8]
“Small plumes of discolored water were seen in the ocean above Ahyi on October 16 and 21 this past week. Discolored greenish water was visible drifting several hundred meters from the summit of Ahyi. These plumes are likely associated with degassing and hydrothermal activity at the summit of the underwater volcano.”
— Northern Mariana Islands, on Ahyi Seamount[9]
“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[15]
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.[16]
- 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.[17]
- Earthquakes: Drop, Cover and Hold On.[18]
- 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/alerts; tropics: nhc.noaa.gov
- Worldwide disasters: gdacs.org
References
- USGS, M7.0 191 km ENE of Nagqu, China event page earthquake.usgs.gov. ↩
- GDACS event page gdacs.org. ↩
- National Weather Service, active alerts API api.weather.gov. ↩
- National Hurricane Center, active storms data nhc.noaa.gov. ↩
- NOAA Storm Prediction Center, Day 1 Convective Outlook spc.noaa.gov. ↩
- USGS, M4.5+ earthquakes, past day (real-time feed) earthquake.usgs.gov. ↩
- USGS, Significant earthquakes past week (real-time feed) earthquake.usgs.gov. ↩
- Alaska Volcano Observatory, Great Sitkin notice volcanoes.usgs.gov. ↩
- Northern Mariana Islands, Ahyi Seamount notice volcanoes.usgs.gov. ↩
- Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, Kilauea notice volcanoes.usgs.gov. ↩
- WJLA, Road reopens near Montgomery County middle school after sinkhole closure wjla.com. ↩
- Hoodline, Gas Leak, Sinkhole Near Big Bend Road and US 301 in Riverview hoodline.com. ↩
- National Hurricane Center, Vance 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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