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.
A strong earthquake registered by the USGS as M6.5 hit Vanuatu at 12:47 UTC on August 16, 2023. The agency is reporting a depth of 193 km (119 miles). EMSC is reporting the same magnitude and depth.
Tropical Cyclone “Lan” made landfall near Cape Shionomisaki in Japan’s Wakayama Prefecture just before 05:00 LT on Tuesday, August 15, 2023 (20:00 UTC, August 14), with winds near 160 km/h (100 mph) — equivalent to a Category 2 hurricane in the Atlantic.
Remnants of Tropical Cyclone “Khanun” dropped heavy rains over Primorsky Krai, Russia over the past couple of days causing widespread floods. Khanun made landfall in South Korea late August 9 (UTC) and continued moving north toward Russia.
At least two people were killed and 15 others injured when an EF-2 tornado accompanied by a hailstorm hit the town of Yancheng, China’s Jiangsu Province on August 13, 2023. This is the first deadly tornado to hit China and Jiangsu since July 20, 2022.
A strong and shallow earthquake registered by the USGS as M6.1 hit the Mariana Islands region at 13:51 UTC on August 14, 2023. The agency is reporting a depth of 10 km (6.2 miles). EMSC is reporting M6.1 at a depth of 38 km (23.6 miles).
A new Strombolian eruption started at Etna’s Southeast Crater at 18:40 UTC on August 13, 2023. The activity increased to lava fountaining over the next couple of hours.
A major explosion took place at Stromboli’s Northern crater at 19:06 UTC on August 8, 2023, leading to lava overflows on the outer slope. The eruption came with a sharp spike in tremor, and its aftermath showed a decrease in spattering activity from the North crater area.
Destructive wildfires in Maui, Hawaii have claimed at least 80 lives in just a couple of days, as of late Friday (LT), August 11, 2023. This makes them the deadliest natural disaster in Hawaii since it joined the United States in 1959.
There is high confidence in a dangerous heat wave in the Pacific Northwest, with locations in the interior valleys and lower elevations of western Oregon facing one of their hottest five-day stretches on record (by average temperature), with above 38 °C (100 °F) highs likely.
In the northern mountainous region of Vietnam, devastating floods and landslides, sparked by persistent heavy rains since August 2, have claimed 12 lives, injured five, and displaced close to 3 000 residents as of August 8.
