Daily Earthquakes, Storms, Fires & Floods Report — November 13, 2026

By Paul Harrison, Orbis Weather · Nov 13, 2026

At a glance

It was a quiet 24 hours for natural hazards worldwide, from 7:20 a.m. EST Thursday, November 12, to 7:20 a.m. EST Friday, November 13 (12:20 to 12:20 UTC). Weather in the United States did most of the work.

• Storms: A winter storm is bringing heavy mountain snow and damaging winds to the eastern Sierra Nevada today, and a coastal storm is winding down in the Northeast. No tropical cyclone is active anywhere.
• Floods: Central Vietnam is clearing landslides after several days of heavy rain, with hundreds of households evacuated or cut off.
• Earthquakes: The largest was a magnitude 5.8 at sea off Papua New Guinea, with no tsunami.
• Fires: US activity is light, at the lowest national preparedness level.
• Volcanoes: Kilauea in Hawaii remains paused between lava fountaining episodes.

National weather services and local authorities issue the official warnings. Follow them for decisions about safety.

Earthquakes

The day was seismically ordinary: the strongest event was a magnitude 5.8 at sea off Papua New Guinea, with no tsunami. The US Geological Survey (USGS) catalog lists 15 earthquakes of magnitude 4.5 or greater in the window. The nine largest are below.

Six smaller events of magnitude 4.5 to 4.6 struck near the Philippines, Panama, Iceland, Fiji, Indonesia and Japan.

What stands out

• The Papua New Guinea quake drew a green PAGER alert, the lowest level. The Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System (GDACS) estimated few people were exposed to strong shaking.
• The magnitude 5.1 south of Crete struck at 27 mi (43 km) depth. The USGS logged only two felt reports, and no damage was reported.
• No earthquake of magnitude 6 or greater occurred in the window or in the two and a half days before it.

The USGS counted 219 earthquakes of all sizes worldwide in the window. Catalog searched at 12:21 UTC on November 13: USGS query.

Storms

No tropical cyclone is active in any ocean basin. The last one, Pena in the Central Pacific, dissipated over open water early in the window. Two weak disturbances have a low chance of developing.

The National Hurricane Center expects no tropical cyclone formation in the Atlantic over the next 7 days. It gives Pena’s remnants a 10 percent chance of redevelopment before they cross the International Date Line on Friday.

Sierra Nevada winter storm

The National Weather Service (NWS) in Reno has a Winter Storm Warning for Mono County, California, from 10 a.m. Friday to 10 a.m. PST Saturday. The warning, issued at 1:32 a.m. PST Friday, calls for:

• 1 to 2 feet (30 to 60 cm) of snow above 7,000 feet (2,130 m), and up to 6 inches (15 cm) between 6,000 and 7,000 feet.
• Gusts of 60 to 80 mph (97 to 129 km/h) over ridges and 55 to 70 mph (89 to 113 km/h) along Highway 395.
• A heavy snow burst “this evening into early Saturday morning.” The NWS says “travel could be very difficult” and wet snow could damage trees and power lines.

The figures are from the 1:32 a.m. PST warning; newer NWS statements replace them.

Northeast coastal storm

A coastal low brought downpours, hail and flash flood warnings to the New York area on Thursday evening, ABC7 New York reported. Hail piled up on Route 352 in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, stranding drivers; no injuries were reported. A New Jersey tornado watch was cancelled early Thursday evening.

New York City may get another third of an inch to an inch (8 to 25 mm) of rain on Friday, tapering in the afternoon. The Catskills could see 1 to 3 inches (2.5 to 7.6 cm) of snow. AccuWeather expects several inches on the highest ground from West Virginia to the White Mountains, and only a limited coastal flooding risk.

Fires

US wildfire activity is light, but 2026 has already burned 45 percent more acreage than the 10-year average. Figures are from the National Interagency Fire Center report of 7:30 a.m. Mountain Time, Thursday, November 12.

Fires to know. All three show minimal fire behavior, and the report lists no evacuations.

• Bee Haven 2, Florida: 2,060 acres, 85 percent contained, 28 miles northwest of Lake City.
• Wild River, New Hampshire: 817 acres, 59 percent contained, in the White Mountain National Forest.
• Foot Creek, Wyoming: 683 acres, 90 percent contained, in the Bighorn National Forest.

Elsewhere. GDACS logged large grassland and bush fires in Australia and South Sudan on November 10 and 11. The largest covered 9,255 hectares (22,870 acres) in Australia; GDACS lists no people affected.

Floods

Central Vietnam is the main flood story: rain is easing, but landslides and high rivers have cut roads and forced evacuations. In Quang Ngai, the Phuoc Giang River flooded 1.6 to 4.9 feet (0.5 to 1.5 m) deep on November 11, cutting off nearly 500 households, SGGP reported on November 12. In Quang Tri, a landslide buried about 330 feet (100 m) of National Highway 9C under more than 10,000 cubic meters (13,000 cubic yards) of earth and rock. No national casualty total has been published.

Also today

No new eruption or tsunami was reported in the window.

• Kilauea, Hawaii: The eruption is paused after episode 56, a six-hour fountaining phase on November 5 that reached about 660 feet (200 m). The summit is reinflating, and the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory forecasts episode 57 between November 16 and 21. Alert level: Advisory, aviation code Yellow (USGS, November 12).
• Ahyi Seamount, Northern Mariana Islands: Satellite images showed an underwater plume of discolored water on November 10, with no significant geophysical signals. Alert level: Advisory, aviation code Yellow (USGS, November 13).

What to watch in the next 24 hours

• Eastern Sierra Nevada: Heaviest snow and strongest winds from Friday evening into early Saturday; the warning runs to 10 a.m. PST Saturday. Updates: NWS Reno.
• Northeast US: Rain and high-elevation snow taper Friday afternoon. Updates: NWS offices in New York, Mount Holly and Albany.
• Bay of Bengal (Invest 92B): Models show gradual development over 48 hours as it moves northwest. Updates: JTWC and the India Meteorological Department.
• Central Vietnam: Rain declines on November 13 and 14, with scattered showers from November 15, per Vietnam’s National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting. Reservoir releases keep flood risk high in Khanh Hoa.
• Kenya: Officials expect the El Niño short rains to peak in November, with 1.5 million people at risk, AP reportedon November 13. Updates: Kenya Meteorological Service Authority.

About this report

This report draws on official agency data and products: the USGS earthquake catalog, the National Hurricane Center and Joint Typhoon Warning Center, the National Weather Service, the National Interagency Fire Center, GDACS and the USGS volcano observatories, with news reports for local detail. The 24-hour window runs from 12:20 UTC Thursday to 12:20 UTC Friday. Fire figures come from the latest daily report, which is one day old. Casualty figures in fast-moving events often change.

Glossary

• Magnitude (Mww, mb): Measures of an earthquake’s size. Mww is based on the whole fault rupture; mb uses early body waves and suits smaller quakes.
• PAGER alert: A USGS rating of likely deaths and losses from an earthquake. Green is the lowest of four levels.
• Invest: A weather disturbance that forecasters are watching for possible tropical cyclone development.
• Preparedness level: A US scale from 1 to 5 of wildfire activity and demand on firefighting resources.
• Open trough: A stretched area of low pressure without a closed circulation, which means a tropical cyclone has dissipated.

Frequently asked questions

Was there a major earthquake in the past day? No. The largest was a magnitude 5.8 northwest of Kavieng, Papua New Guinea, at a shallow depth under the sea. It carried the lowest USGS impact alert, and no tsunami was issued.

Are any hurricanes or typhoons active? No. Pena in the Central Pacific was the last active system and dissipated on Thursday. Forecasters are watching two weak disturbances, in the Bay of Bengal and the South Pacific, and both have a low chance of developing.

What does a Winter Storm Warning mean for the eastern Sierra? It means heavy snow and strong wind are expected and travel will be hazardous. In Mono County, the NWS urges drivers to expect very difficult travel and possible damage to trees and power lines until the warning ends Saturday morning.

Is the US wildfire season over? Activity is low, but new fires are still reported every day, mostly small ones. Five large fires remain uncontained, and the area burned this year is well above normal for mid-November.

Sources

Earthquakes

• USGS catalog query, M4.5+, from 12:20 UTC Nov 12
• USGS event count, all sizes
• USGS catalog query, M6+, Nov 10 to 12
• USGS event page, M5.8 Papua New Guinea
• GDACS RSS feed

Storms

• National Hurricane Center
• NHC Atlantic Tropical Weather Outlook
• NHC Eastern Pacific Tropical Weather Outlook
• CPHC Central Pacific Tropical Weather Outlook
• Remnants of Pena, final public advisory 24
• NHC Pena advisory archive
• JTWC Western and South Pacific advisory
• JTWC Indian Ocean advisory
• NWS Reno Winter Storm Warning, Mono County (repost)
• ABC7 New York live updates
• AccuWeather, Northeast storm

Fires

• NIFC Incident Management Situation Report, Nov 12
• GDACS wildfire, Australia, 9,255 ha

Floods

• SGGP, central Vietnam recovery, Nov 12
• GDACS flood, Myanmar
• AHA Centre weekly disaster update, Nov 2 to 8
• CARE, Gaza floods
• AP via ABC News, Kenya rains

Volcanoes

• USGS Kilauea updates
• USGS Volcano Hazards Program updates