I'm a dedicated researcher, journalist, and editor at The Watchers. With over 20 years of experience in the media industry, I specialize in hard science news, focusing on extreme weather, seismic and volcanic activity, space weather, and astronomy, including near-Earth objects and planetary defense strategies. You can reach me at teo /at/ watchers.news.
Indonesia’s Geological Agency raised Anak Krakatau alert from Level II (Waspada) to Level III (Siaga) at 16:30 WIB (09:30 UTC) on July 2, 2026, after an eruption at 14:05 WIB (07:05 UTC) sent a dense gray-to-black ash plume about 200 m (656 feet) above the summit. The agency set a 3 km (1.9 miles) exclusion zone around the active crater.
Effusive activity at Italy’s Etna volcano continued from a vent at 3 030 m (9 940 feet) elevation on July 2, 2026, feeding overlapping lava flows on the volcano’s eastern flank. Meanwhile, strombolian activity persisted at Voragine crater as volcanic tremor remained in the high range and a new infrasonic source developed beneath the crater.
A front preceded by a strong, moist north to northwesterly flow is forecast to bring up to 250 mm (9.8 inches) of rain to parts of New Zealand’s South Island and severe wind gusts up to 130 km/h (81 mph) in exposed parts of the Canterbury High Country from Friday, July 3, to Saturday, July 4, 2026.
Multiple coronal mass ejections linked to repeated eruptions from Active Region 4479 are forecast to reach Earth in stages from July 3 through July 6, 2026. NOAA’s official forecast calls for G1–G2 geomagnetic storm conditions on July 3 and 4, while later CME arrivals remain under model assessment.
Mutnovsky volcano in southern Kamchatka, Russia, produced an ash explosion at 20:19 UTC on July 1, 2026 (08:19 LT on July 2), marking its first documented eruption since July 3, 2013. KVERT reported that the approximately 3-minute event generated an ash plume up to 3.5 km (11 500 feet) above sea level, extending about 10 km (6 miles) west of the volcano.
An X1.1 solar flare from Active Region 4479 produced a full-halo coronal mass ejection (CME) on June 30, 2026, prompting SWPC to issue a G2 – Moderate Geomagnetic Storm Watch for July 3.
A strong earthquake registered by the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) as M6.0 hit off the coast of Iwate Prefecture, Honshu at 12:08 UTC (21:08 JST) on July 1, 2026. The agency is reporting a depth of 40 km (25 miles). USGS registered this quake as M5.9 at a depth of 37 km (23 miles).
A strong and shallow earthquake registered by the USGS as M6.0 struck the Gulf of California, Mexico at 19:45 UTC on June 30, 2026. The agency is reporting a depth of 10 km (6.2 miles). EMSC is reporting the same magnitude and depth. There is no tsunami threat from this earthquake.
A strong solar flare measuring M5.8 erupted from Active Region 4475 located at the west limb at 12:57 UTC on June 30, 2026. The event started at 12:37 and ended at 13:23 UTC.
Canyon County, in southwest Idaho’s Treasure Valley west of Boise, declared a countywide disaster emergency on June 27, 2026, after severe thunderstorms moved through the Nampa–Caldwell area the previous evening, bringing strong winds, heavy rain, and hail. Preliminary National Weather Service (NWS) observations recorded gusts of 89 km/h (55 mph) at Boise Airport and 85 km/h (53 mph) at Caldwell Airport.
