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.
Due to increased seismicity detected southwest of Korovin volcano, Atka volcanic complex, the Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) has raised the Aviation Color Code for the volcano to Yellow and Alert Level to Advisory on August 11, 2021. Numerous small earthquakes…
A strong and shallow earthquake registered by the USGS as M7.1 hit near the coast of Mindanao, Philippines at 17:46 UTC on August 11, 2021. The agency is reporting a depth of 65.6 km (40.7 miles). EMSC is reporting M7.1 at a depth of 58 km (36 miles). GFZ M7.0 at a…
The massive Dixi Fire burning in Northern California since July 13, 2021, has destroyed 893 structures, damaged another 61 and threatens 16 000 more. At 198 378 hectares (490 205 acres) as of August 10, Dixie Fire is the second-largest fire in California history.1…
Severe thunderstorms rolled through parts of the U.S. Midwest on Tuesday night, August 10, 2021, into Wednesday, leaving more than 460 000 customers without power in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Illinois. As of 00:45 UTC on August 11 (19:45 CDT on August 10), more than…
With approximately 50 paroxysmal eruptive episodes since February 16, 2021, Mount Etna has increased its height to a record 3 357 m (11 014 feet). Eruptive events that took place in 2021 have accumulated significant amounts of pyroclastic material and lava layers on…
Power supply demand in New Zealand reached a nationwide all-time high on Monday, August 9, 2021, after a rapidly deepening low-pressure system moved east across central parts of the country, bringing heavy snow, severe gale southerlies, and frigid temperatures. As a…
A massive wildfire burning in the northern part of the island of Evia, Greece since August 3, 2021, has forced more than 2 500 people to evacuate their homes. Hundreds of homes have been destroyed but the full extent of the damage caused by the fire burning for 7…
Heavy monsoon rains affecting the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh over the past couple of days have inundated at least 357 villages across 21 districts, as of August 9, 2021. The worst-affected are the districts of Hamirpur and Jalun in the region of Bundelkhand,…
A massive heat dome over the Mediterranean Sea is set to bring another long-lasting, intense heatwave across parts of southern Europe this week. High temperatures are expected to spread into central Europe and continue through August 22. Southern Italy, especially…
Tropical Storm "Lupit" combined with seasonal southwesterly winds to bring extremely heavy rains to parts of Taiwan from August 5 to 7, 2021, causing destructive floods and landslides. Lupit made 2 landfalls in China — the first in Shantou, Guangdong…
