Weekly Earth Watch: Volcanoes, Earthquakes & Natural Hazards

Orbis Weather | Week of August 10–16, 2026

Earth’s crust has been restless this week. Two major earthquakes struck opposite sides of the Pacific within five days of each other, Mount Etna sent Sicily’s busiest airport into chaos, Kīlauea wrapped up another explosive fountaining episode, and deadly landslides followed monsoon rains and quake damage from India to Indonesia. Meanwhile, the U.S. wildfire season has pushed the nation to its highest readiness level, with nearly 4 million acres already burned. Here’s this week’s roundup of the planet’s major geological and hazard events.

Major Earthquakes

The week’s most devastating event was a magnitude 7.4 earthquake that struck western Colombia on August 10, centered near San José del Palmar in the Chocó region, roughly 400 km west of Bogotá, at a depth of 107 km. It is the strongest quake to hit Colombia this century. The death toll climbed quickly from an initial count of 132 to more than 160 as rescue crews reached harder-hit towns, with hundreds more reported missing. Cali, Pereira, Quibdó and Manizales all reported collapsed buildings, damaged airports and destroyed infrastructure — at least 20 buildings were flattened in Cali alone, with 380 more damaged. At least 21 aftershocks rattled the region in the hours after the mainshock. President Abelardo de la Espriella declared a national state of emergency, and international aid — including a $15.5 million U.S. pledge and rescue teams from across Latin America — has poured in.

Just five days later, a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck off the coast of Flores Island in Indonesia’s East Nusa Tenggara province on August 15, roughly 68 km north-northwest of Ende city at a shallow depth of 10 km. At least 47 people were killed, a toll authorities expect to rise as search efforts continue through collapsed villages. More than 157 homes were destroyed and nearly 200 damaged, forcing about 2,000 residents into temporary shelters. The quake triggered over 230 aftershocks, the strongest a magnitude 6.2, and the USGS estimates more than 500,000 people felt very strong shaking. A separate magnitude 6.9 quake struck Sumatra later the same day with no reported casualties.

Volcano Eruptions

Mount Etna, Europe’s tallest and most active volcano, has been in near-continuous eruption for over a week, sending ash plumes as high as 15,000 feet and disrupting air travel across Sicily. Catania’s Vincenzo Bellini Airport — which normally handles more than 40,000 passengers a day — shut down entirely at points during the week, with over 1,200 flights cancelled and 600 more diverted between August 7 and 13 in what officials called the worst disruption the airport has seen in more than two decades. Ash from the eruption drifted as far as North Africa. Activity has since begun to ease, though authorities continue to monitor the volcano closely.

In Hawai’i, Kīlauea completed its 53rd eruptive episode at the summit’s Halema’uma’u crater on August 13, a 9.6-hour event that sent lava fountains roughly 500 feet into the air from the north vent, with a plume rising near 18,000 feet. A newly formed west vent also contributed intermittent activity. The volcano has since paused and sits at ADVISORY/YELLOW status, but summit tiltmeters recorded renewed inflation immediately after the episode ended, suggesting another fountaining episode is likely in the coming days, even as recent mild deflation adds some uncertainty to the timing. Hazards remain centered on volcanic gas (vog), tephra, and an unstable crater area that stays closed to the public.

Tsunami Alerts

Indonesia’s meteorological agency issued a tsunami warning for coastlines near Flores Island immediately after Friday’s magnitude 7.7 earthquake, prompting evacuations along the shore. The warning was lifted within hours once monitoring confirmed no significant wave activity had developed. It was the week’s only tsunami alert tied to seismic activity, though it briefly renewed concern across the Pacific Ring of Fire given the proximity to the earlier Colombia event.

Landslides

Heavy monsoon rains triggered a deadly landslide in Mumbai, India on August 12, when a saturated hillside collapsed onto homes overnight, killing at least seven people and injuring several others. Separately, rescue crews in Indonesia have spent the days since Friday’s earthquake digging through debris fields where quake-triggered landslides compounded the damage from collapsed buildings, slowing search-and-rescue operations in the hardest-hit villages around Flores Island.

Wildfire Activity

The U.S. wildfire season has reached its most severe point of the year. The National Interagency Fire Center reports the nation is at Preparedness Level 5, its highest classification, with 149 large fires currently active and 88 still uncontained. Total acreage burned nationwide has reached nearly 4 million acres — running at 169% of the ten-year average, marking an exceptionally severe season. The Pacific Northwest bears the brunt of the crisis, with 55 large incidents and more than 2.7 million acres affected across Oregon and Washington, while Idaho, Nevada and Utah are also seeing significant activity; the Great Basin region is likewise at maximum preparedness. To bolster stretched crews, incident management teams have arrived from Australia and New Zealand, Canadian air tankers are assisting, and 240 soldiers from Joint Base Lewis-McChord have been deployed to help fight the Modrite Fire. Canada continues to battle its own significant fire activity alongside the western U.S.

Orbis Weather’s Weekly Earth Watch tracks significant seismic, volcanic and hazard activity worldwide. Figures reflect the latest confirmed reports at time of publication and may be revised as situations develop.

Sources: Al Jazeera, CNN, NBC News, NPR, TPR, USGS, National Interagency Fire Center, VolcanoDiscovery/The Watchers, Americares, Direct Relief, TIME