Global Natural Disasters This Week — October 23, 2026

By Paul Harrison, Orbis Weather · Oct 23, 2026

At a glance

A magnitude 7.0 earthquake in northern Tibet was the deadliest event of the week of Saturday, October 17, to Friday, October 23, 2026, while Storm Adam flooded Spain and France and Super Typhoon Champi, the strongest storm of the year, brushed Taiwan.

Tropical cyclones

Three named storms were active, and Champi was the only one to hit land hard. National weather services and local authorities issue the official warnings for each storm.

Champi. Champi peaked at 185 mph (298 km/h) early in the week, AP reported. It passed about 10 miles (16 km) south of Guam on October 18, leaving wide power outages in the south of the island, according to The Watchers. Taiwan’s death was a person swept away by waves on Liuqiu island on October 22. Taiwan evacuated almost 1,300 people and cancelled all 262 domestic and 669 international flights. In Japan, a woman in her 70s broke a leg on Miyako, and nearly 2,000 homes lost power on Ishigaki. Flights, ferries and two Miyako bridges were closed, News On Japan reported. The Japan Meteorological Agency warns that some houses in Okinawa could be damaged by violent winds, with waves to 39 feet (12 m), per Weathernews.

Vance. Vance was 440 miles (710 km) south-southwest of Acapulco at 09:00 UTC on October 23, the NHC said. It is forecast to become a major hurricane by Friday night. Swells could bring life-threatening surf and rip currents to southern and southwestern Mexico this weekend.

Josephine. Josephine formed off the US East Coast and stayed offshore. The Weather Network forecast gusts of 43 to 62 mph (70 to 100 km/h) in Newfoundland on Friday and 0.8 to 2 inches (20 to 50 mm) of rain. No deaths or damage had been reported.

Floods and landslides

Storm Adam, a cut-off low (DANA) over the western Mediterranean, caused the week’s worst flooding, in eastern Spain and southern France.

Spain. Rain from October 17 to 19 flooded the Valencia and Alicante coasts. Forna recorded 718 liters per square meter (28.3 inches) in just over 24 hours, Anadolu reported. Around 2,000 people were evacuated, mainly from campsites in Oliva, and more than 850,000 were briefly ordered indoors. Death counts differ: Anadolu listed four, RTP five, and Vozpópuli seven, including a body found off Menorca that police are investigating.

France. The same system hit the south on October 19 and 20. A 75-year-old was swept away near Istres, and a person is missing after a car was carried off by the Fium’orbu river in Corsica, Euronews reported. Météo-France recorded 191 mm (7.5 inches) in one hour at Solenzara airport.

Paraguay and Argentina. The rising Paraná River forced more than 1,200 people from their homes in Ciudad del Este, Paraguay, and more than 400 in Corrientes, Argentina, PAHO said on October 19. Paraguay’s emergency agency counts about 4,200 families affected. Reuters reported two farm workers died moving cattle in Corrientes. Three men are missing in Santa Fe after falling from a boat.

Ecuador. A landslide buried a house at a mining camp in Azuay on October 18, and a woman was swept away by a river in El Oro. The national risk agency (SNGR) counted 5,511 homes damaged in 17 provinces, most of the affected people in Esmeraldas, the Rio Times reported.

Turkey (earlier event, toll revised). Istanbul’s record rain fell on October 14 and 15, but bodies were still being found this week. The governor said around 2,000 homes and 900 businesses were seriously damaged.

Lesser events

• Nigeria: more than a week after floods killed two and displaced over 4,000 in Nasarawa State, officials announced plans to relocate communities (Leadership via allAfrica, Oct 22).
• Somalia: IOM warned on October 21 that 874,319 people could be displaced by floods between October and December (A News).

Earthquakes

The US Geological Survey (USGS) recorded seven earthquakes of magnitude 5.5 or more during the week; the Tibet quake was the only deadly one on a large scale.

Source: USGS event feed, generated Oct 23, 11:30 UTC.

Tibet. The quake struck at 10:33 p.m. local time in a high, sparsely populated area of northern Tibet. The global disaster alert system GDACS issued a red alert, estimating 10,000 people within strong shaking. At least 339 homes and 20 livestock sheds collapsed, CBS News reported, citing the Nagqu media office. Xinhua said more than 12,000 people were relocated, and 413 aftershocks were recorded. Reuters took the lower injury figure from a local government post and the higher one from a later press conference. Beijing sent about 1,600 rescuers to an area about 15,700 feet (4,800 m) high, where snow was forecast, Al Jazeera reported.

Pakistan. Pakistan’s meteorological department rated the Khuzdar quake magnitude 5.9. One man was killed by a falling rock in the Naal area and several mud houses were damaged, according to IANS via the Free Press Journal on October 18. Dawn’s first report did not mention casualties.

Vanuatu and Italy. The offshore Vanuatu sequence caused no reported damage, and the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center saw no tsunami threat, per Ground News. The Italian quake struck under the Tyrrhenian Sea on Friday morning; the USGS gave it a green alert, meaning a low likelihood of casualties or damage.

Volcanoes

No eruption this week caused casualties or evacuations; the main change was a minor eruption at Whakaari/White Island in New Zealand. Earth Sciences NZ raised the Volcanic Alert Level from 2 to 3 after an observation flight on October 20, 1News reported. Vent gas temperature rose from about 212°F to 743°F (100°C to 395°C) in a week. No ash had reached the mainland. The island’s 2019 eruption killed 22 people.

Source: Smithsonian/USGS Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, covering October 15–21, 2026. The report lists 23 volcanoes with continuing eruptions, including Kilauea, Mayon, Kanlaon, Semeru and Sheveluch.

Wildfires, heat and drought

Indonesia’s fire season was the week’s main fire story, with haze closing schools in neighboring countries. Satellite data from Nusantara Atlas show more than 4.7 million acres (1.9 million hectares) burned by the end of September, Down To Earth reported on October 21. Indonesia’s foreign ministry said those figures cannot be readily confirmed. The firefighter deaths were in Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park, East Java. Schools closed in Malaysia and Timor-Leste, and Singapore had its longest run of unhealthy air since 2015. Protesters marched in Jakarta on October 20.

• Australia, Botswana, South Sudan and China: GDACS logged green-alert fires, the largest about 66,200 acres (26,776 ha) in Australia on October 21, with little or no population affected (GDACS).
• California: the Norte Fire in Orange County, which started October 16, had burned 570 acres and was 60% contained on October 19; two firefighters were seriously hurt (CDP).
• No major heat wave, cold wave or new drought emergency made international news this week.

What to watch next week

Champi’s run past Okinawa and toward Kyushu is the main hazard for the coming days. National weather services and local authorities issue the official warnings.

About this report

This report covers Saturday, October 17, to Friday, October 23, 2026, and was compiled on the morning of October 23 (US Eastern time). It draws on the GDACS alert feed, the USGS earthquake catalog, the Smithsonian/USGS weekly volcano report, the NHC and JTWC, national agencies, the Center for Disaster Philanthropy, and news reports, all linked below. Tolls in remote or fast-moving events often change, so each figure carries its source and date. An older event appears only when its story changed this week.

Glossary

• DANA: Spanish acronym for an isolated upper-level low, a cold pocket of air that can stall and drop extreme rain.
• GDACS alert: Green, orange or red rating from the Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System, estimating likely humanitarian impact.
• Invest: A weather disturbance that forecasters are watching for possible cyclone formation.
• PAGER: The USGS rapid estimate of an earthquake’s likely casualties and losses, shown as green, yellow, orange or red.
• Volcanic Alert Level: A national scale of a volcano’s unrest; in New Zealand it runs from 0 to 5, and level 3 means a minor eruption.

Frequently asked questions

Why did the Tibet earthquake not kill more people? The epicenter lay in a remote, high-altitude area with few residents. Reuters said it was China’s strongest quake since January 2024; the 2010 Yushu quake of magnitude 7.1 in Qinghai killed at least 2,698.

Was Champi the strongest storm of 2026? Yes, by peak sustained wind. The Watchers, citing NASA data, said its peak winds on October 20 made it the strongest tropical cyclone of the year so far.

Why are Spain’s death counts different? Outlets counted at different times and used different rules. Some included a man who died of a heart attack at a flooded campsite, and one included a body found at sea off Menorca whose cause is under investigation.

Is El Niño behind the floods in South America and Somalia? Reuters and IOM linked heavy rain in South America and Somalia’s flood outlook to strengthening El Niño conditions. The World Meteorological Organization expects central Pacific waters about 6.8°F (3.8°C) above average from November to January, Reuters reported.