Thousands of people on the Indonesian island of Bali flee from their homes due to concerns over Mount Agung erupting. The alert status for the volcano was increased to the highest level possible yesterday. (AP via Fox News)
China limits petroleum exports and bans imports of textiles from North Korea as part of new sanctions following the latest nuclear test. (BBC)
An earthquake is detected in North Korea which China's earthquake authority believes is due to a North Korean nuclear test. South Korea states that it could be a natural earthquake. (ABC News)
Casualty reports indicate at least 15 people have been killed on Dominica and two on Guadeloupe. The casualty report for Puerto Rico is now two deaths, including a man from a capsized boat near Vieques, Puerto Rico. Power remains out for an estimated 3.4 million Puerto Ricans as the energy grid is all but destroyed. Guajataca Dam in Puerto Rico will experience an "imminent dam break" according to the National Weather Service which will threaten 70,000 residents. In addition, more than 95 percent of the island’s wireless cell sites are out of service. (The New York Times)
Puerto Rico is forecast to get an additional 4 inches (10 cm) to 8 inches (20 cm) of rain through Saturday, on top of the several feet of rain that has fallen on parts of the island. Caguas has received the most, 37.9 inches (96 cm). The NHC expects 8 inches (20 cm) to 16 inches (41 cm) rain for the Dominican Republic, Turks and Caicos, and Mayaguana in the southeast Bahamas. (National Hurricane Center)(The New York Times)
Rescuers are focusing on 10 collapsed buildings where people may still be alive. Mexico City MayorMiguel Ángel Mancera reports the death toll is now at least 273, with 50 people still missing. (Reuters)
The U.S. Federal Reserve announces its benchmark interest rate will not change this month, though it expects an increase by the end of the year, along with three increases in 2018 and two in 2019. The Federal Reserve also says its balance sheet reduction program will begin in October. (CNBC)
Searches continue for possible survivors of the magnitude 7.1 earthquake that hit central Mexico yesterday. By mid-afternoon, 52 people are rescued while at least 226 people have been killed and another 800 injured. (Los Angeles Times)(ABC News)
The National Hurricane Center predicts Puerto Rico's total rainfall through Saturday will be 20–30 inches (51–76 cm) inches with 35 inches (89 cm) in isolated areas. The Virgin Islands will receive an additional 3 to 5 inches (7.6 to 12.7 cm). (National Hurricane Center³)
Fifty countries (50) sign the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, adopted on 7 July 2017, at the United Nations headquarters in New York City. The world's nuclear-weapon states oppose the measure. (AP via MSN.com)(Reuters)(United Nations)
Speaking to government workers at the presidential palace in Manila, President Rodrigo Duterte orders police to kill his eldest son, Paulo Duterte, if drug trafficking allegations against him are proven true, and adds that those who carried out the execution would be protected from prosecution. (IndependenT)
Hurricane Maria makes landfall on Dominica as a category 5 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 160 mph (260 km/h). Maria is the second category 5 hurricane to make landfall at that intensity in the 2017 season, making this and 2007 the only seasons on record to feature this occurence. (National Hurricane Center)
A magnitude 7.1 earthquake strikes Mexico, killing at least 220 people and collapsing several buildings in Mexico City and widespread evacuations, hours after a yearly earthquake drill in commemoration of the 1985 Mexico City earthquake. (KTLA)
A few hundred pro-government protesters gather in Myanmar's commercial capital Yangon, condemning Rohingya insurgents as well as perceived foreign interference in the Rakhine conflict. (MSN)
Toys "R" Us files for Chapter 11bankruptcy protection in the United States, and also files for bankruptcy in Canada, as it attempts to restructure its debts. (BBC)(CNBC)