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The latest news, analysis and opinion on Natural disasters. In-depth analysis, industry insights and expert opinion.
The aftermath of the 2025 tsunami that occurred three days earlier. Photo: US Geological Survey via Reuters
Science

Alaska 2025 tsunami was second-highest ever, taller than Empire State Building

Huge 481-metre wave that scoured an Alaskan fjord reached higher than the famed New York skyscraper.

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Indonesia

Bus and oil tanker collide in Indonesia, killing at least 16 people

The Philippines

Panic in Philippines as Mayon volcano ashfall blankets towns in total darkness

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Bangladesh

Child, newlywed among 14 killed by lightning in Bangladesh

Lightning kills ‌hundreds of people every year in ⁠Bangladesh, which ⁠declared lightning strikes a natural disaster in 2016.

A gust of wind blows dust and leaves into the air as a storm approaches after a heat wave in Dhaka. Photo: Reuters
Japan

Magnitude 6.2 quake strikes Japan’s Hokkaido, JMA warns of more to come

The temblor, and another hours earlier, come less than a week after last Monday’s 7.7 earthquake off northern Iwate prefecture.

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Japan

Wildfires in Japan’s north worsen, 1,400 firefighters deployed

Japan has experienced relatively few wildfires compared with other parts of the world, but climate change has increased their frequency.

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Banking & finance

Default in our stars: China banks use satellites to track assets, cut loan risks

Analysts say orbital monitoring of sites, property and other assets provides vital data on borrowers.

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Chinese banks are increasingly using satellites to evaluate their clients’ terrestrial assets. Photo: Shutterstock
Extreme weather

Video | Northern Japan battles large wildfires

2,500 residents forced to evacuate as wildfires burn for a second day in Japan’s northern Iwate prefecture.

Extreme weather

Searchers find body of 1 of 6 missing crew members after typhoon overturns ship

The crew of the Mariana notified the US Coast Guard on April 15 that the vessel lost its starboard engine during Super Typhoon Sinlaku.

Indonesia

Why Japan’s earthquake has Bali on edge over magnitude 9 ‘megathrust’ risk

Bali, Sumba and the Flores Islands are expected to be the worst hit from a megathrust earthquake in the Sumba fault.

The sun rises behind boats moored at a pier on Indonesia’s resort island of Bali on April 12. Bali recorded 547 earthquakes last year. Photo: AFP
Japan

Big one coming? Japan issues megaquake advisory after magnitude 7.7 shock

The Japan Meteorological Agency has upped the risk of a megaquake to 1 per cent, compared to 0.1 per cent at other times.

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An electronic signboard in Ofunato city, Iwate prefecture, displays a sign saying “Hokkaido and Off the Sanriku Coast Aftershock Advisory” early on Tuesday. Photo: Jiji Press/AFP
Earthquakes

Video | Powerful quake shakes northern Japan

Japan’s northern Tohoku region was struck by a 7.7-magnitude quake.

Japan

Tsunami warning issued in Japan after magnitude-7.5 quake hits northeast

Waves of up to three metres are expected after the quake struck off the Sanriku Coast.

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Malaysia

Video | Blaze destroys over 1,000 homes in Malaysian water village

Around 1,000 homes in a coastal village razed in Malaysia’s Sabah state.

This image made from video provided by Bernama TV shows a fire at a Malaysian coastal settlement in the Sandakan district of Sabah state on Borneo Island, Malaysia, Sunday, April 19, 2026. (Bernama TV via AP)
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New Zealand

New Zealand tells Wellington residents to evacuate as rain threat worsens

Wellington had received 77mm of rain ‌in less than an hour, its heaviest rainfall on record.

Vehicles can be seen partially submerged along a flooded road in Wellington, New Zealand, in a screengrab taken from a social media video on Monday, . Photo: Reuters
Japan

Magnitude 5 quakes hit Japan’s Nagano prefecture

The quakes struck Omachi at 1.20pm and 2.54pm, with the nation’s weather agency warning of aftershocks over the next week or so.

Pacific nations

Australia pledges US$1.7 million in aid after Cyclone Maila kills 11 in Pacific

Entire villages were destroyed in the storm, was briefly classified as a Category 5 cyclone.

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Indonesia

Indonesia earthquake kills 1, triggers tsunami waves

The 7.4-magnitude quake hit at a depth of 35km in the Northern Maluku Sea off ⁠Indonesia’s Ternate island.

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Indonesian police officers inspect a damaged building following an offshore earthquake in Manado, North Sulawesi province, on Thursday. Photo: AFP
Australia

Australia’s Karratha LNG plant closed after cyclone amid fuel shortages

The plant’s co-owner Chevron said it suffered outages at its Gorgon and Wheatstone gas plants, which supply more than five per cent of the world’s liquefied natural gas.

Climate change

Himalayan glacial loss threatens 2 billion as Asia’s ‘water tower’ shrinks

Conflicts, such as the Iran war, are diverting global attention away from the ecological crisis, scientists warn.

Asean

Asean bets on new framework to remedy ‘uneven’ disaster response

The new ‘ASPECT’ initiative could help boost quicker collective regional responses during large-scale or evolving disasters, analysts say.

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Rescuers evacuate a woman after Tropical Storm Penha hit the area in Iligan, Philippines’ Lanao del Norte province, on February 6. Photo: AFP
Fukushima nuclear disaster and water release

Video | Fukushima’s stray animal saviour searches for redemption

Former nuclear plant worker Toru Akama spends his time and money caring for cats and dogs abandoned after the March 2011 disaster.

This picture taken on March 5, 2026 shows former nuclear plant worker Toru Akama playing with a cat during an interview with AFP at his animal shelter in Namie, Fukushima prefecture. Not far from the Fukushima nuclear disaster site, former plant worker Toru Akama tends to dozens of pets abandoned after the catastrophe 15 years ago, work he sees as part of his quest for redemption. (Photo by Philip FONG / AFP) / TO GO WITH ‘JAPAN-NUCLEAR-ANIMAL-FUKUSHIMA’ BY MATHIAS CENA
Japan

Japan struggles with rising maintenance costs 15 years after Fukushima disaster

The costs of maintaining public housing for disaster victims and sea walls in Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima total over US$923.7 million.

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Science

China team mulls hitting typhoons with an energy beam from space

Scientist Duan Baoyan says the Zhuri project could also act as a ‘space-based power bank’ to charge satellites and other facilities.

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Japan

Japan’s nuclear waste dilemma: no prefecture wants Fukushima’s toxic soil

By law, the waste currently housed near the crippled Fukushima Daiichi plant must be moved outside the prefecture by March 2045.

A facility in Futaba, Fukushima prefecture, temporarily stores soil and other waste from decontamination works. Photo: Kyodo
Indonesia

Video | Heavy rain triggers serious flooding in Bali

No fatalities reported despite days of heavy rain that left many trapped in homes and vehicles.

No fatalities reported despite days of heavy rain that left many trapped in homes and vehicles.
Malaysia

Sabah quake strongest to hit Malaysia in 11 years: Met Department

The 6.8-magnitude earthquake that struck off the coast of Sabah on Monday is stronger than the one that killed 18 people in Ranau in 2015.

United States

8 skiers found dead and 1 still missing after California avalanche

This is the deadliest avalanche in the US in over four decades.

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