Basis: 2026-09-06 - 2026-09-12 (combined from 7 daily briefings)

1. Indonesia’s Anak Krakatau volcano repeatedly erupted and subsided throughout the week. As a result, airports closed and journalists went missing.

2. Hurricane Lowell approached Hawaii. The situation changed from approach to landfall, causing deaths and damaging a port.

3. The Democratic Republic of the Congo faced both the spread of Ebola and a deadly crush during a school fire in Bukavu. The death toll continued to rise.

4. Explosions and collapses occurred, including an explosion at a Bolivian military base. The number of deaths rose day by day.

5. Flooding in Nepal and Tibet, and record heavy rain in Nagoya, Japan, continued Asia’s flood disasters.

6. Vaccine-related infectious diseases spread in several countries, including measles in Bangladesh.

7. Earthquakes were frequent across the Pacific Ring of Fire, including a magnitude 6.6 earthquake in the Java Sea.

Anak Krakatau volcano was at the center of this week’s disasters. On September 6, a column of volcanic ash shot up. As a result, the aviation alert level was raised to orange. On September 7, eight airports closed. More than 1,500 flights stopped, and about 170,000 passengers were stranded. On September 8, the 25-hour eruption ended. Five airports resumed operations. But the eruption disrupted 340,000 passengers and about 3,000 flights. On September 10, contact was lost with a speedboat carrying journalists near the volcano. Five journalists, two crew members, and one guide went missing. On September 11, the volcano erupted again. Thousands of flights were canceled, and 150,000 passengers were stranded.

Earthquakes also continued along the Pacific Ring of Fire. On September 6, a magnitude 5.6 earthquake occurred in waters off Isangel, Vanuatu. Magnitude 5.5 earthquakes followed in waters off Kokopo, Papua New Guinea, and in waters near Russia’s Kuril Islands. On September 7, a magnitude 5.6 earthquake occurred in the Solomon Islands, and on September 8, a magnitude 5.5 earthquake occurred in New Caledonia’s Loyalty Islands. There were no tsunamis or casualties. On September 12, a magnitude 6.6 earthquake occurred in the Java Sea. The focal depth was 358.6 km. On the same day, a magnitude 5.9 earthquake occurred offshore Timor-Leste. Neither earthquake led to a tsunami warning.

Hurricane Lowell changed from an approaching storm to a landfall situation. On September 6, it approached west of Hawaii as a Category 4 storm. On September 8, a hurricane warning was issued for Kauai. A tropical storm warning was issued for Oahu. On September 9, it passed Kauai as a Category 1 storm. At that time, 50,400 households lost power. On September 10, 90 percent of the island power grid was cut off. One person died because of a fallen tree. On September 11, the death toll rose to two because of huge waves and trees. Lanai Island’s cargo port was damaged, cutting off supplies.

Flood disasters overlapped in Asia. On September 8, Nepal’s cumulative death toll from floods and landslides reached 1,399. Damaged homes reached 20,000. On the same day, a landslide occurred in a border area of China’s Tibet Autonomous Region. Forty-three people died and 519 went missing. In Nagoya, Japan, 104.5 millimeters of rain fell in one hour on September 9. It was the heaviest rain ever observed there, and the subway stopped. On September 10, evacuation orders were issued to 2.65 million people. At the fifth station parking lot on Mount Fuji, three vehicles were buried by a landslide. On September 12, one person died and dozens were injured in a Nagoya landslide.

Spain announced on September 10 that the number of heat-wave days in the summer of 2026 was 61. It was the longest since observations began in 1961. The average summer temperature was 24.5 degrees, 2.4 degrees above normal.

On September 10, a large wildfire broke out on Indonesia’s Borneo Island. Toxic smoke spread as far as Malaysia, 800 kilometers away. Malaysia’s Sarawak state closed schools and declared a state of emergency. The Japanese government sent transport helicopters and equipment to help fight the fire. On September 12, a new wildfire spread amid strong winds in Los Angeles County, United States. Fire authorities issued evacuation preparation orders.

Deaths from explosions and collapses rose day by day. The explosion at the Viacha military base in Bolivia had killed three people and left 14 missing as of September 7. The death toll rose to seven on September 8 and nine on September 9, and the number of injured reached 84. On September 10, the Bolivian president asked prosecutors to investigate the possibility of a terrorist plot. On September 7, fireworks exploded during a cathedral festival in Temascalcingo, Mexico. Ten people died and 64 were injured. In the collapse of a five-story building in New Delhi, India, the death toll rose from five on September 7 to seven on September 8.

Transport and maritime accidents also continued. On September 5, a bus fell 30 meters into a ravine on a mountain road on Fogo Island, Cape Verde. Twenty-five people died, most of them children and teenagers. At Miami Airport in the United States, an Amazon cargo plane veered 396 meters off the runway on September 6. Five people in a cleaning van died. A passenger ship sank off Kyrenia in Northern Cyprus. As of September 8, 14 people were counted dead and 14 missing. Of the 267 people on board, 239 were rescued. On September 10, a fire broke out on the cargo ship Ocean Melody, which was under repair at a shipyard in Qingdao, Shandong Province, China. Twenty-five people died. A Dutch tourist bus overturned on a mountain road in the Swiss Alps. On September 11, the death toll was confirmed at five. On the same day, 35 people were counted dead and 54 missing after a Philippine passenger ship caught fire and sank. On September 12, 11 people died in a fuel tanker explosion in Iran. A boat capsized off Alaska in the United States. A 15-year-old boy was rescued from the boat, but two people died.

Ebola spread throughout the week in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. On September 7, cumulative confirmed cases stood at 6,342, with 3,072 deaths. The World Health Organization and the government requested $1.3 billion in support. On September 9, confirmed cases rose to 6,686 and deaths to 3,226. The virus was the Bundibugyo variant, for which there was no vaccine. On September 11, the Ervebo vaccine was newly deployed. On September 12, infections spread into a seventh week, and cumulative deaths exceeded 3,000. In Bukavu, students rushed into a narrow exit on September 10 while trying to escape a fire that had spread to a school. Students were crushed to death at that time, and the death toll rose from 24 to 29 by September 12.

Measles spread in several countries. On September 9, Bangladesh reported that child deaths from measles had reached 1,002 and cumulative cases had reached 187,484. Lack of vaccination was cited as the cause. In the United States, Wisconsin reported 151 confirmed cases on September 8. On September 10, Pennsylvania confirmed 624 cases and two infant deaths. On September 8, Manila City in the Philippines officially declared a leptospirosis outbreak after monsoon flooding. Leptospirosis is a bacterial infectious disease transmitted through contaminated water. On September 10, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, said cumulative dengue fever cases had exceeded 31,032. Dengue fever is an infectious disease transmitted by mosquitoes. On September 12, the United States declared the end of a Cyclospora parasite outbreak. It was the largest on record. Cyclospora is a parasite transmitted through contaminated food or water.

• USGS (Java Sea magnitude 6.6 earthquake): https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us7000tgrk

• Reuters (Indonesia volcano airport closures): https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/indonesia-volcano-eruption-disrupts-flights-airports-closed-2026-09-06/

• The Straits Times (Anak Krakatau airports reopen): https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/indonesia-reopens-airports-closed-by-anak-krakatau-volcano-eruption

• Yahoo News (volcano journalists missing): https://www.yahoo.com/news/science/articles/rescuers-search-5-indonesian-photojournalists-043137089.html

• NOAA (Hurricane Lowell): https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2026/LOWELL.shtml

• Boston Globe (Lowell Hawaii deaths): https://www.bostonglobe.com/2026/09/10/nation/hurricane-lowell-hawaii-two-deaths/

• Al Jazeera (Nepal flood mourning): https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/9/7/nepal-holds-day-of-mourning-for-more-than-1300-killed-in-floods

• Sweden Herald (Tibet landslide): https://swedenherald.com/article/china-raises-tibet-landslide-death-toll-to-43-as-519-remain-missing

• Japan Today (Nagoya heavy rain flooding): https://japantoday.com/category/national/update3-torrential-rain-hits-central-japan-floods-vital-infrastructure-in-nagoya

• Euronews (Spain 61-day heat wave): https://www.euronews.com/2026/09/09/spain-endures-61-days-of-heatwave-and-records-its-hottest-summer-on-record

• Al Jazeera (Malaysia haze emergency): https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/9/5/malaysia-declares-emergency-in-sarawak-as-haze-from-indonesia-worsens

• NBC News (Qingdao cargo ship fire): https://www.nbcnews.com/world/china/china-port-fire-cargo-ship-qingdao-ocean-melody-rcna596979

• ABC News Australia (Philippine passenger ship fire): https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-09-11/search-resumes-for-people-missing-after-philippines-ferry-fire/107066072

• Al Jazeera (Congo school fire): https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/9/10/at-least-20-killed-in-school-fire-in-rebel-held-dr-congo-city

• Al Jazeera (Bangladesh measles): https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/9/9/bangladesh-measles-deaths-pass-1000-as-vaccination-drive-falls-short

Generated at: 2026-09-12 08:27 KST (combined from 7 daily briefings)