Earth Changes · Daily Report · October 12, 2026, 6:30 AM CDT
A magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck 12 km WSW of Pitaloza Arriba, Panama at 5:56 p.m. UTC on Oct. 9, about 13 km (≈8 miles) below the surface, the U.S. Geological Survey reports[1]. The USGS PAGER system rates the expected impact RED. It is the strongest earthquake tracked by the USGS this week, with active aftershocks continuing across the region.
Meanwhile, Hurricane Simon is churning in the eastern Pacific with top winds near 115 mph and a central pressure of 958 millibars, moving northwest at 5 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center.[2]
Elsewhere, GDACS, the UN-backed global disaster alert system, issued an Orange alert: Volcanic eruption is on going for Kanlaon in Philippines.[3]
Today at a Glance
- 22 earthquakes of magnitude 4.5 or greater, the largest M6.2
- 1 active tropical system: Hurricane Simon
- 44 severe or extreme U.S. weather alerts
- 4 U.S. volcanoes above normal, including Great Sitkin, Kilauea
- 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
- Hurricane Simon (eastern Pacific): top winds near 115 mph, moving northwest at 5 mph. Latest advisory.[2]
Across the United States, the National Weather Service has 44 alerts rated severe or extreme in effect.[4]
| Alert | Number | States |
|---|---|---|
| Flood Warning | 16 | AL, FL, GA, IA, LA, NC and more |
| Freeze Watch | 10 | CA, ID, NV, OR, WA |
| Freeze Warning | 7 | CA, ID, OR, WA, WY |
| Flood Watch | 6 | AZ, ID, NV, UT |
| Flash Flood Warning | 2 | AZ, UT |
| Heavy Freezing Spray Warning | 1 | PK |
| High Wind Warning | 1 | WY |
| Red Flag Warning | 1 | CA |
The Storm Prediction Center says no severe thunderstorm areas are forecast today.[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:
- Orange: Volcanic eruption is on going for Kanlaon in Philippines[3]
Video: Reuters, October 12, 2026 — “Hurricane Simon floods streets in Mexico town”. Matched to this report by the storm, volcano or place name in its title.
Official Telegram video: Russia's Emergencies Ministry (MChS), official Telegram channel, October 11, 2026 — “Дымный призрак Иногда опасность приходит в дом незаметно. Пока все спят, первые признаки возгорания легко пропустить. Дым распространяется быстро, сокращая время на спасение. В новой истории анимационного проекта «Вызов ” Topic: severe storm. Caption in Russian. Picked by hazard keywords in the channel’s own caption. Telegram only plays this file in its app: use the button above.
2. Earthquakes
The USGS recorded 22 earthquakes of magnitude 4.5 or greater in the past 24 hours.[6] The strongest:
| Mag. | Where | When | Depth | PAGER |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6.2 | 79 km SSE of Panguna, Papua New Guinea | Oct. 11, 2:07 p.m. UTC | 53 km | GREEN |
| 5.5 | 122 km W of Neiafu, Tonga | Oct. 12, 4:38 a.m. UTC | 195 km | GREEN |
| 5.3 | 150 km W of Gorontalo, Indonesia | Oct. 11, 9:34 p.m. UTC | 110 km | — |
| 5.2 | 101 km SSW of Severo-Kuril’sk, Russia | Oct. 11, 5:00 p.m. UTC | 83 km | — |
| 5.2 | 18 km SSE of Camaná, Peru | Oct. 11, 1:42 p.m. UTC | 45 km | — |
| 4.8 | southern East Pacific Rise | Oct. 12, 1:59 a.m. UTC | 10 km | — |
| 4.8 | 56 km E of Yairipok, India | Oct. 12, 1:28 a.m. UTC | 78 km | — |
| 4.8 | 31 km W of Río Grande, Panama | Oct. 11, 5:11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7.7 | 12 km WSW of Pitaloza Arriba, Panama | Oct. 9, 5:56 p.m. UTC | 13 km | RED |
| 6.6 | 14 km W of Río Grande, Panama | Oct. 9, 8:25 p.m. UTC | 10 km | YELLOW |
| 6.0 | 7 km N of La Tronosa, Panama | Oct. 10, 4:14 a.m. UTC | 10 km | YELLOW |
| 5.8 | 1 km S of El Cacao, Panama | Oct. 9, 6:37 p.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] |
| Kilauea | Watch / Orange | The north vent erupted spatter overnight feeding a short, tube-fed pahoehoe flow. Kīlauea's summit remains at a high level of pressurization with changes in eruptive activity or location within the summit region possible in the coming days to weeks.[9] |
| Ahyi Seamount | Advisory / Yellow | No plumes seen in satellite images; no significant geophysical signals.[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:
- Gua Musang, Malaysia: TRP reports, “A sinkhole about eight metres deep opened up on Federal Route FT08 in Gua Musang, Kelantan, on Saturday (10 October).”[11]
- The Straits Times reports, “8m-deep sinkhole appears in Malaysian state of Kelantan, prompting road closure for urgent repairs – Malaysia’s Public Works Department will install a Bailey bridge on FT08 in Gua Musang after an eight-metre-deep sinkhole forced a full road closure.”[12]
Also in the News
Other natural-hazard video from the past day, from news organizations:
Video: Reuters, October 12, 2026 — “Storm Rachel pounds California homes”. Also in the news. Picked because its title names a natural hazard; it may not be covered in the data above.
Video: ABC News, October 12, 2026 — “At Least 4 Dead as Hurricane Isaias Bashes Florida and Alabama. What You Need to Know – October 12”. 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.
“Simon continues to show signs of weakening as the eye has become filled in, although infrared imagery shows that the central dense overcast has cooled since the previous advisory. There is a wide spread in intensity estimates, ranging from 73-127 kt. Since there has been an overall modest degradation to the cloud pattern, the current intensity is nudged downward to 100 kt. The initial wind radii were modified with the help of timely SAR pass.”
— Forecaster Katz/Blake, National Hurricane Center, on Hurricane Simon[13]
“No severe weather is forecast across the U.S. today and tonight.”
— NOAA Storm Prediction Center[5]
“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 M6.2 quake[14]
“Lava continues to erupt slowly within the summit crater of Great Sitkin Volcano. Minor earthquakes were detected in the past day. No activity was observed in cloudy webcam and satellite images over the past day.”
— Alaska Volcano Observatory, on Great Sitkin[8]
“Both the north and south vents in Halemaʻumaʻu showed strong glow and flames in overnight webcam imagery. The small opening near the base of the north vent spattered intermittently until 11:15 p.m. HST when it began to erupt continuously feeding a small, tube-fed pahoehoe flow.”
— Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, on Kilauea[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; tropics: nhc.noaa.gov
- Worldwide disasters: gdacs.org
References
- USGS, M7.7 12 km WSW of Pitaloza Arriba, Panama event page earthquake.usgs.gov. ↩
- National Hurricane Center, active storms data nhc.noaa.gov. ↩
- GDACS event page gdacs.org. ↩
- National Weather Service, active alerts API api.weather.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. ↩
- Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, Kilauea notice volcanoes.usgs.gov. ↩
- Northern Mariana Islands, Ahyi Seamount notice volcanoes.usgs.gov. ↩
- TRP, They Warned About This Road Three Weeks Ago, Then A Sinkhole Eight Metres Deep Proved Them Right therakyatpost.com. ↩
- The Straits Times, 8m-deep sinkhole appears in Malaysian state of Kelantan, prompting road closure for urgent repairs straitstimes.com. ↩
- National Hurricane Center, Simon 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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