Earth Changes · Daily Report · October 29, 2026, 4:17 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 is the strongest earthquake tracked by the USGS this week, with active aftershocks continuing across the region.
Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Vance is churning in the eastern Pacific with top winds near 40 mph and a central pressure of 1001 millibars, moving north-northeast at 7 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center.[2]
Elsewhere, Great Sitkin volcano is at alert level WATCH (aviation color code ORANGE), the Alaska Volcano Observatory says. Its latest update: “Slow eruption of lava within the summit crater continues.”[3]
Today at a Glance
- 30 earthquakes of magnitude 4.5 or greater, the largest M6.4
- 1 active tropical system: Tropical Storm Vance
- 31 severe or extreme U.S. weather alerts
- 4 U.S. volcanoes above normal, including Great Sitkin
- 3 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 40 mph, moving north-northeast at 7 mph. Latest advisory.[2]
Across the United States, the National Weather Service has 31 alerts rated severe or extreme in effect.[4]
| Alert | Number | States |
|---|---|---|
| Storm Warning | 10 | PK |
| Flood Watch | 8 | AK, AZ, HI, NM, TX |
| Coastal Flood Warning | 5 | CA, FL |
| Flood Warning | 4 | FL, NM |
| Winter Storm Warning | 2 | AK |
| Freeze Warning | 1 | CA |
| Winter Storm Watch | 1 | AK |
The Storm Prediction Center says no severe thunderstorm areas are forecast today.[5]
Around the world, GDACS logged 57 wildfire, 9 earthquake, 1 flood, 1 drought notices in the past two days, all at its lowest (Green) level.[6]
2. Earthquakes
The USGS recorded 30 earthquakes of magnitude 4.5 or greater in the past 24 hours.[7] The strongest:
| Mag. | Where | When | Depth | PAGER |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6.4 | southeast of Easter Island | Oct. 29, 7:49 a.m. UTC | 10 km | GREEN |
| 5.8 | 110 km ENE of Barcelona, Philippines | Oct. 29, 3:19 a.m. UTC | 10 km | GREEN |
| 5.7 | 82 km NE of Kiunga, Papua New Guinea | Oct. 29, 3:26 a.m. UTC | 10 km | GREEN |
| 5.7 | 271 km WSW of Tual, Indonesia | Oct. 28, 10:06 p.m. UTC | 142 km | GREEN |
| 5.5 | 5 km ESE of Asahi, Japan | Oct. 28, 3:07 p.m. UTC | 41 km | GREEN |
| 5.5 | Reykjanes Ridge | Oct. 28, 11:37 a.m. UTC | 10 km | GREEN |
| 5.4 | 114 km ENE of Barcelona, Philippines | Oct. 29, 7:31 a.m. UTC | 10 km | GREEN |
| 5.4 | South Sandwich Islands region | Oct. 29, 5:06 a.m. UTC | 9 km | GREEN |
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:[8]
| Mag. | Where | When | Depth | PAGER |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| 6.5 | Bonin Islands, Japan region | Oct. 25, 2:09 a.m. UTC | 492 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.[3] |
| 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 remains paused following episode 55 on October 17. The forecast for episode 56 fountaining has been pushed to Nov. 1-7, 2026.[10] |
| Shishaldin | Advisory / Yellow | Low-level unrest continues.[3] |
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:
- Washington Township, New Jersey: News12 reports, “Share: A sinkhole caused by a broken underground pipe has closed Lower Lake Road in Washington Township, Gloucester County, according to police.”[11]
- Bayan Baru, Malaysia: Yahoo reports, “Penang’s Mayang Pasir Highway closed until Saturday for repairs after sinkhole emerges KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 29 — A section of Mayang Pasir Highway in Bayan Baru, Penang, will remain closed until October 31 to allow road repairs following a sinkhole incident yesterday.”[12]
- WPTZ reports, “Plattsburgh says work is underway to repair road after sinkhole The west end of Gougeville Springs Road in Cadyville has been closed since July 2026.”[13]
Also in the News
Other natural-hazard video from the past day, from news organizations:
Video: Al Jazeera English, October 29, 2026 — “Serbians storm TV studio as pro-Vucic media faces reckoning | AJ #shorts”. Also in the news. Picked because its title names a natural hazard; it may not be covered in the data above.
Video: AccuWeather, October 28, 2026 — “West Flooding Again, More Snow for the Mountains”. 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 has had an unusual structure overnight. While obviously still a sheared tropical cyclone on satellite imagery, scatterometer data indicated that strong winds of about 40 kt were located well northeast (over 120 n mi) of the center under very deep convection, just downstream of the Islas Marias. This atypical pattern of winds very distant from the center suggests that they were probably downdraft induced (or convective scale), possibly enhanced by terrain and not representative of the tropical cyclone, especially with rising pressures observed from the drifting buoy very near the center. There were a couple of believable tropical-storm-force vectors closer to the center outside of the thunderstorm mass, so the initial intensity is set to 35 kt on this advisory.”
— Forecaster Blake, National Hurricane Center, on Tropical Storm Vance[14]
“Severe thunderstorms are not forecast across the U.S. today or tonight.”
— NOAA Storm Prediction Center[5]
“Lava continues to erupt slowly within the summit crater of Great Sitkin Volcano. A few small earthquakes were detected in the past day. Clear webcam images show weak steaming from the active portion of the lava flow.”
— Alaska Volcano Observatory, on Great Sitkin[3]
“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. ↩
- National Hurricane Center, active storms data nhc.noaa.gov. ↩
- Alaska Volcano Observatory, Great Sitkin notice volcanoes.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. ↩
- Northern Mariana Islands, Ahyi Seamount notice volcanoes.usgs.gov. ↩
- Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, Kilauea notice volcanoes.usgs.gov. ↩
- News12, Sinkhole Closes Gloucester County Road After Vehicle Becomes Stuck newjersey.news12.com. ↩
- Yahoo, Penang’s Mayang Pasir Highway closed until Saturday for repairs after sinkhole emerges malaysia.news.yahoo.com. ↩
- WPTZ, Plattsburgh says work is underway to repair road after sinkhole mynbc5.com. ↩
- National Hurricane Center, Vance forecast discussion nhc.noaa.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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