Earth Changes · Daily Report · October 25, 2026, 6:30 AM CDT
Hurricane Vance is churning in the eastern Pacific with top winds near 85 mph and a central pressure of 980 millibars, moving north-northwest at 5 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center.[1]
Meanwhile, a magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck Bonin Islands, Japan region at 2:09 a.m. UTC on Oct. 25, about 492 km (≈306 miles) below the surface, the U.S. Geological Survey reports[2]. The USGS PAGER system rates the expected impact GREEN. USGS flags it as an ocean-area quake, so check tsunami.gov for any official tsunami message. It was one of 29 quakes of magnitude 4.5 or greater in the past day.
Elsewhere, the National Weather Service has 41 severe or extreme alerts in effect, led by 20 flood warnings across AZ, CO, FL, NM and more.[3]
Today at a Glance
- 29 earthquakes of magnitude 4.5 or greater, the largest M6.5
- 1 active tropical system: Hurricane Vance
- 41 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
- Hurricane Vance (eastern Pacific): top winds near 85 mph, moving north-northwest at 5 mph. Latest advisory.[1]
Across the United States, the National Weather Service has 41 alerts rated severe or extreme in effect.[3]
| Alert | Number | States |
|---|---|---|
| Flood Warning | 20 | AZ, CO, FL, NM, UT |
| Coastal Flood Warning | 7 | CA, FL, GA, SC |
| Flood Watch | 4 | CO, NM, TX, UT |
| Winter Storm Warning | 4 | AK |
| Freeze Warning | 2 | MD, NJ, VA |
| High Wind Watch | 2 | AK |
| Storm Warning | 2 | PK |
The Storm Prediction Center says its highest risk level for severe thunderstorms today is marginal, on a scale that runs marginal, slight, enhanced, moderate, high.[4]
Around the world, GDACS logged 99 wildfire, 10 earthquake notices in the past two days, all at its lowest (Green) level.[5]
2. Earthquakes
The USGS recorded 29 earthquakes of magnitude 4.5 or greater in the past 24 hours.[6] The strongest:
| Mag. | Where | When | Depth | PAGER |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6.5 | Bonin Islands, Japan region | Oct. 25, 2:09 a.m. UTC | 492 km | GREEN |
| 6.1 | 25 km ENE of Port-Olry, Vanuatu | Oct. 25, 2:24 a.m. UTC | 116 km | GREEN |
| 5.8 | Bouvet Island region | Oct. 24, 3:24 p.m. UTC | 12 km | GREEN |
| 5.4 | 33 km ESE of Ambunti, Papua New Guinea | Oct. 25, 10:30 a.m. UTC | 72 km | GREEN |
| 5.4 | 205 km NW of Port-Olry, Vanuatu | Oct. 25, 8:41 a.m. UTC | 10 km | GREEN |
| 5.3 | 44 km ESE of Miyazaki, Japan | Oct. 24, 11:59 p.m. UTC | 10 km | — |
| 5.3 | 101 km SSE of Vilyuchinsk, Russia | Oct. 24, 8:35 p.m. UTC | 70 km | — |
| 5.2 | 63 km NNE of Lae, Papua New Guinea | Oct. 25, 3:29 a.m. UTC | 81 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7.0 | Bonin Islands, Japan region | Oct. 24, 2:09 a.m. UTC | 473 km | — |
| 7.0 | Bonin Islands, Japan region | Oct. 24, 2:09 a.m. UTC | 473 km | — |
| 7.0 | 191 km ENE of Nagqu, China | Oct. 22, 2:33 p.m. UTC | 18 km | ORANGE |
| 6.9 | 197 km WNW of Port-Olry, Vanuatu | Oct. 24, 2:31 a.m. UTC | 10 km | GREEN |
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 forecast for episode 56 fountaining is between October 30 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:
- Malay Mail reports, “In a statement, the Gua Musang Public Works Department (JKR) said the detour, built using a Bailey bridge, was constructed at the site of a sinkhole on the road.”[11]
- Watford Observer reports, “A major road in Watford is closed while the county council investigates a potential sinkhole.”[12]
Also in the News
Other natural-hazard video from the past day, from news organizations:
Video: BBC News, October 25, 2026 — “Storm Boelo brings floods, travel disruption, and power cuts for tens of thousands | BBC News”. Also in the news. Picked because its title names a natural hazard; it may not be covered in the data above.
Video: CBS News, October 25, 2026 — “High tides set to worsen flooding from storms along West Coast”. 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.
“Vance's convective structure continues to be impacted by southwesterly wind shear. Showers and thunderstorms have become less organized, and most of the convection is now occurring in the northern semi-circle. The latest subjective and objective intensity estimates range from 62 to 77 kt. Given the ragged satellite appearance, the initial intensity is lowered to 75 kt for this advisory, and that could be generous.”
— Forecaster Kelly, National Hurricane Center, on Hurricane Vance[13]
“Isolated large hail, and a tornado or two will be possible this afternoon/evening across central/eastern New Mexico and Far West Texas. An isolated damaging wind gust will also be possible across Far West Texas.”
— NOAA Storm Prediction Center[4]
“The Philippine Sea plate is bordered by the larger Pacific and Eurasia plates and the smaller Sunda plate. The Philippine Sea plate is unusual in that its borders are nearly all zones of plate convergence. The Pacific plate is subducted into the mantle, south of Japan, beneath the Izu-Bonin and Mariana island arcs, which extend more than 3,000 km along the eastern margin of the Philippine Sea plate.”
— U.S. Geological Survey, “Seismotectonics of the Philippine Sea and Vicinity,” on the region around the M6.5 quake[14]
“Lava continues to erupt slowly within the summit crater of Great Sitkin Volcano Seismicity has been quiet over the past day. Cloudy conditions obscured satellite views over the past day.”
— 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
- National Hurricane Center, active storms data nhc.noaa.gov. ↩
- USGS, M6.5 Bonin Islands, Japan region event page earthquake.usgs.gov. ↩
- National Weather Service, active alerts API api.weather.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. ↩
- 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. ↩
- Malay Mail, FT008 detour near Gua Musang now open to light traffic after sinkhole malaymail.com. ↩
- Watford Observer, Major Watford road closed due to 'sinkhole' investigation watfordobserver.co.uk. ↩
- 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.
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