Overall Red alert Tropical Cyclone for MOLAVE-20
in Viet Nam, Laos, Philippines, Cambodia, Thailand

Event summary

Tropical Cyclone MOLAVE-20 can have a high humanitarian impact based on the maximum sustained wind speed, exposed population and vulnerability.

GDACS ID TC 1000734
Name MOLAVE-20
From - To 24 Oct - 28 Oct
Exposed countries Viet Nam, Laos, Philippines, Cambodia, Thailand
Exposed population 4.9 million in Category 1 or higher
Maximum wind speed 204 km/h Category 3
Maximum storm surge 0.9 m (25 Oct 10:00 UTC)
Vulnerability High (Vietnam)

GDACS Score

For more info on GDACS alert score click here.
Wind Storm surge Rainfall GDACS score
GDACS JTWC 130 km/h 0.9 m n.a. 2.5
Single TC: maximum expected impact (wind, storm surge, rainfall)
HWRF 212 km/h 1.6 m 1003 mm 2.5
GFS 173 km/h 1.3 m 581 mm 1.5
ECMWF 119 km/h 1.1 m 821 mm 0.5
Maximum expected impact (wind, storm surge and rainfall) using different data sources.
Virtual OSOCC
Meteo assessment
Satellite products
Analytical products
Philippines, China, Vietnam - Tropical cyclone MOLAVE (ECHO 26 Oct 2020)Mon, 26 Oct 2020 11:00

  • Tropical Cyclone MOLAVE (QUINTA in the Philippines) made landfall over southern Luzon close to Lagazpi City on 25 October as a typhoon. On 26 October, its centre was 43 km west of Mindoro with maximum sustained wind of 139 km/h.
  • According to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, more than 9,000 people have been evacuated across the Bicol and CAR regions. One person is reported missing in Batangas Province (Calabarzon region). Floods, landslides, power outages and evacuations have affected different parts of the country.
  • More than 100,000 people were evacuated yesterday from Albay (Bicol region). People were also evacuated from Mimaropa and Calabarzon regions. Local government actors are providing relief assistance.
  • Typhoon MOLAVE is forecast to strengthen as it moves west-northwest and to make landfall over central Vietnam early on 28 October.
  • Heavy rain, strong winds and storm surge are forecast over most parts the of Calabarzon, Mindoro, Bicol and Central Luzon. Extreme flood warnings have been issued across Eastern Visayas and Bicol.
Philippines, Vietnam - Typhoon MOLAVE update (ECHO 27 Oct 2020)Tue, 27 Oct 2020 10:59

  • Typhoon MOLAVE is moving towards central Vietnam, its centre was 450 km east Qui Nhon City (Dinh Province, central Vietnam) on 27 October at 6.00 UTC with maximum sustained winds of 204 km/h.
  • National authorities report 1 fatality and 1 missing person in Negros Oriental Province (Central Visayas) following the passage of MOLAVE over the central Philippines. Over 30,100 evacuees are sheltering in 405 centres. At least 109,000 people have been affected in the Central Luzon, Calabarzon and Mimaropa regions.
  • Typhoon MOLAVE is forecast to make landfall over southern Quang Ngai Province (central Vietnam) on 27 October, close to Tropical Storms SAUDEL and LINFA's trajectories and authorities are evacuating up to 1,300,000 people.
  • Heavy rain, strong winds and storm surge are forecast over North Central Coast Region of Vietnam and moderate to heavy rain over notably western regions of the Philippines.
  • Heavy rain, landslide and flash flood warnings have been issued across central Vietnam.
Philippines, Vietnam - Tropical Cyclone MOLAVE update (ECHO 28 Oct 2020)Wed, 28 Oct 2020 11:02

  • Typhoon MOLAVE is approaching central Vietnam and was approximately 110 km south-east of Quang Ngai City (Quang Ngai Province, central Vietnam) on 28 October at 0.00 UTC with maximum sustained wind of 167 km/h. 
  • The European Commission's Copernicus emergency satelite mapping service was activated in rapid mapping mode () on 27 October.
  • After MOLAVE's passage over the central Philippines, 9 people have died, 6 are injured and 2 are still missing. More than 56,300 people were evacuated and 209,457 affected.
  • MOLAVE will make landfall over central Quang Ngai Province (central Vietnam) on 28 October in the same area where tropical storm LINFA passed on 11 October.
  • For the next 24 hours, heavy rain, strong winds and storm surge are forecast over most parts of north-central Vietnam, southern Laos, northern Cambodia and eastern Thailand.
Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia - Typhoon MOLAVE update (ECHO 29 Oct 2020)Thu, 29 Oct 2020 11:05

  • MOLAVE made landfall on the morning of 28 October between Quang Ngai and Quang Nam provinces (central Vietnam) as a typhoon before dissipating on 29 October.
  • According to media reports, landslides triggered by heavy rain in Quang Nam Province resulted in 15 fatalities, with 40 missing. More than 374,000 people have been evacuated. Millions were left without electricity and 56,000 houses damaged. 26 fishermen are missing after the boats sank.
  • In Cambodia, 121 cities and districts in 20 out of 25 provinces have been affected. At least 44 are dead and 175,872 families affected.
  • In the Philippines, the death toll has risen to 16, with 4 missing. 77,000 people have been evacuated and more than 242,000 affected in Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Bicol, Western Visayas, Central Visayas.
  • Heavy rain will persist over central Vietnam, southern Laos, northern Cambodia and eastern Thailand, with flash flood and landslide warnings for central Vietnam. 
  • The European Commission's Copernicus emergency satellite mapping system was activated on 27 October to support the damage assessment across central Vietnam.
MOLAVE-20 - Copernicus EMS activation (EMSR475)Tue, 27 Oct 2020 11:51

EMSR475: Copernicus Emergency Management Service has been activated
Detailed event map. European Union, 2024. Map produced by EC-JRC.
The boundaries and the names shown on this map do not imply official endorsement or acceptance by the European Union.

Updates on volcanic activity (Smithsonian)

Latest media headlines

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Estimated casualties (PAGER)

USGS estimates the number of casualties for each earthquake for the Prompt Assessment of Global Earthquakes for Response (PAGER) product.
The graph shows the current fatalities estimate.

Exposed population

Data, images, links, services and documents

For this events, GDACS has links to information from the following sources: EMSR (2), UNOSAT (1), EC-JRC (38), (2), DesInventar (1), WMO (1), INFORM (2),