Earth Changes ยท Daily Report ยท November 12, 2026, 6:30 AM CST
The National Weather Service has 34 severe or extreme alerts in effect, led by 2 blizzard warnings across AK.[1]
Meanwhile, a magnitude 5.4 earthquake struck South Sandwich Islands region at 3:45 a.m. UTC on Nov. 12, about 122 km (โ75 miles) below the surface, the U.S. Geological Survey reports[2]. The USGS PAGER system rates the expected impact GREEN. It was one of 12 quakes of magnitude 4.5 or greater in the past day.
Elsewhere, Tropical Depression Pena is churning in the central Pacific with top winds near 35 mph and a central pressure of 1009 millibars, moving west at 16 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center.[3]
Today at a Glance
- 12 earthquakes of magnitude 4.5 or greater, the largest M5.4
- 1 active tropical system: Tropical Depression Pena
- 34 severe or extreme U.S. weather alerts
- 3 U.S. volcanoes above normal, including Great Sitkin
- 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
- Tropical Depression Pena (central Pacific): top winds near 35 mph, moving west at 16 mph. Latest advisory.[3]
Across the United States, the National Weather Service has 34 alerts rated severe or extreme in effect.[1]
| Alert | Number | States |
|---|---|---|
| Blizzard Warning | 2 | AK |
| Heavy Freezing Spray Warning | 16 | PK |
| Flood Warning | 7 | AZ, FL |
| Winter Storm Warning | 4 | CA, NV |
| High Wind Warning | 2 | CA, OR |
| Flood Watch | 1 | WA |
| High Wind Watch | 1 | CA, NV |
| Winter Storm Watch | 1 | CA |
Blizzard Warning issued November 12 at 3:25AM AKST until November 13 at 4:00PM AKST by NWS Fairbanks AK (Central Beaufort Sea Coast; Eastern Beaufort Sea Coast): โ* WHAT…Blizzard conditions. Additional snow accumulations up to 2 inches.โ
Blizzard Warning issued November 12 at 3:25AM AKST until November 13 at 4:00PM AKST by NWS Fairbanks AK (Northern Arctic Coast): โ* WHAT…Blizzard conditions. Additional snow accumulations between 1 and 3 inches.โ
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]
2. Earthquakes
The USGS recorded 12 earthquakes of magnitude 4.5 or greater in the past 24 hours.[5] The strongest:
| Mag. | Where | When | Depth | PAGER |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5.4 | South Sandwich Islands region | Nov. 12, 3:45 a.m. UTC | 122 km | GREEN |
| 5.1 | 80 km W of Panguna, Papua New Guinea | Nov. 11, 5:38 p.m. UTC | 59 km | โ |
| 5.1 | South Sandwich Islands region | Nov. 11, 3:39 p.m. UTC | 105 km | โ |
| 5.0 | 48 km NW of Ancud, Chile | Nov. 11, 7:21 p.m. UTC | 35 km | โ |
| 4.9 | 116 km E of Georgetown, Saint Helena | Nov. 11, 10:03 p.m. UTC | 10 km | โ |
| 4.8 | 155 km E of Noda, Japan | Nov. 12, 4:07 a.m. UTC | 33 km | โ |
| 4.8 | 43 km SE of Severo-Kurilโsk, Russia | Nov. 12, 1:18 a.m. UTC | 74 km | โ |
| 4.6 | 73 km NNW of Gyalshing, India | Nov. 11, 11:00 p.m. UTC | 10 km | โ |
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, 3 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 likely continues; moving to Weekly Updates only[6] |
| Ahyi Seamount | Advisory / Yellow | No signs of unrest in satellite data; no significant geophysical signals.[7] |
| Kilauea | Advisory / Yellow | The Halema'uma'u eruption of Kฤซlauea remains paused following episode 56 fountaining on November 5. The summit is reinflating and the episode 57 forecast window is November 16-21.[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:
- WFMZ.com reports, โA family in Coplay is looking for answers after a sinkhole damaged their house.โ[9]
- Hoodline reports, โA vehicle dropped into a sinkhole near the intersection of Jamieson and Arsenal in south St. Louis Tuesday afternoon, and one person was pulled from the wreckage and rushed to an area hospital in stable condition.โ[10]
- WFMZ.com reports, โFamily warns other homeowners after Coplay sinkhole damages home, insurance company denies claim – Updated – 0โ[11]
Also in the News
Other natural-hazard video from the past day, from news organizations:
Video: The Weather Channel, November 11, 2026 โ โHurricane-Force Winds Pin Students Against Wallsโ. Also in the news. Picked because its title names a natural hazard; it may not be covered in the data above.
Video: AccuWeather, November 11, 2026 โ โWill This Parade of Storms Be the Worst of the Season?โ. 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.
โDeep convection associated with Pena has collapsed over the past few hours, likely due to an increasingly dry mid-level environment. Although Pena is forecast to become a remnant low by 24 h, this transition could occur sooner if deep convection fails to redevelop over the next several hours. The latest subjective and objective D-MINT and D-PRINT intensity estimates reflect this downward trend, with values generally near 30 kt. Given these estimates and the lack of deep convection, the initial intensity is lowered to 30 kt. After transitioning to a remnant low, Pena is expected to open into a trough and dissipate by Friday evening.โ
โ Forecaster Pierce/Gibbs, National Hurricane Center, on Tropical Depression Pena[12]
โA couple of strong thunderstorms, accompanied by at least some risk for severe weather, may impact parts of the northern Mid Atlantic this afternoon.โ
โ NOAA Storm Prediction Center[4]
โLava likely continues to erupt slowly within the summit crater of Great Sitkin Volcano. A few small earthquakes were detected at the volcano over the last day. Satellite and webcam images were cloudy.โ
โ Alaska Volcano Observatory, on Great Sitkin[6]
โClear satellite images over the last week did not show any sign of underwater plumes from Ahyi Seamount. No notable activity was detected in distal geophysical monitoring data.โ
โ Northern Mariana Islands, on Ahyi Seamount[7]
โSinkholes 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.โ
โ U.S. Geological Survey Water Science School, on why sinkholes form[13]
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.[14]
- 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.[15]
- Earthquakes: Drop, Cover and Hold On.[16]
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 Weather Service, active alerts API api.weather.gov. ↩
- USGS, M5.4 South Sandwich Islands region event page earthquake.usgs.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. ↩
- 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. ↩
- WFMZ.com, Family warns other homeowners after Coplay sinkhole damages home, insurance company denies claim wfmz.com. ↩
- Hoodline, Vehicle Swallowed By Sinkhole At South St. Louis Intersection, Driver Hospitalized hoodline.com. ↩
- WFMZ.com, Sinkhole damages family home, insurance allegedly not covering repairs following assessment wfmz.com. ↩
- National Hurricane Center, Pena 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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