Teo Blašković founded The Watchers in 2011 and edited it until 2026, covering seismic and volcanic activity, extreme weather, space weather and near-Earth objects. Articles on this page are his archive.
Natural gas prices in Europe exploded on Tuesday, December 21, 2021, after a major pipeline that brings Russian gas to Europe slowed output over the past couple of days and completely stopped delivering on Tuesday. This combined with record-high prices of…
A strong earthquake registered by the USGS as M5.9 hit Southern Alaska at 22:42 UTC (13:42 LT) on December 22, 2021. The agency is reporting a depth of 152.6 km (94.8 miles). The EMSC is reporting M5.9 at a depth of 146 km (90.7 miles). The epicenter was located…
At least 1 113 373 million people have been affected, 481 196 displaced and 28 000 homes damaged in the Philippines after the country was hit by Super Typhoon "Rai" (Odette) on December 16 and 17, 2021.1 The number of affected people in need, including…
Snowpack over the Sierra has increased dramatically in just 7 days after a series of storms affected the region last week. The sudden change gives California its wettest start to the Water Year (October 1 – September 30) in more than 40 years. A new series of…
Seismicity at Great Sitkin volcano continues at low but above background levels and satellite data shows elevated surface temperatures. In addition, new SAR images from DLR show the lava flow field has grown to more than 1.3 km2 (0.5 mi2). The SE edge seems to have…
Solar activity reached moderate levels over the past 24 hours with an M1.8 solar flare from AR 2908 at 11:36 UTC on December 20, 2021. Initial analysis indicated the likelihood of the northern flank arrival of associated CME on December 23. Eight sunspot groups were…
A very strong earthquake registered by the USGS as M6.2 hit near the coast of Petrolia, California, U.S. at 20:10 UTC on December 20, 2021. The agency is reporting a depth of 9.3 km (5.8 miles). EMSC is reporting M6.2 at a depth of 15 km (9.3 miles). The epicenter…
European power prices surged to record highs over the past couple of days after France announced the closure of four of its largest nuclear reactors. The crisis is further exacerbated by already very high prices of natural gas and cold temperatures. By the end of…
A severe winter storm named Carmel made landfall over Israel on Monday, December 20, 2021, bringing strong winds, heavy rain and snow. Carmel is the 3rd winter storm named by the newly formed East Mediterranean Storm Naming Group, composed of Greece, Cyprus and…
Very heavy rains and widespread floods hit Malaysia over the past 3 days, forcing more than 50 000 people to evacuate their homes and claiming the lives of at least 14 people. The floods were described as one of the worst the country has seen in recent years. Heavy…
