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.
The United States is bracing for its first significant Arctic air outbreak of the winter, impacting the north-central region with bitterly cold wind chills and extending through the weekend. The northern Rockies and Plains are particularly at risk, with the Arctic surge also expected to bring record-breaking cold to the south-central U.S.
A glacial outburst flood has begun at Grímsvötn volcano, located beneath the Vatnajökull glacier in Iceland. In addition, the volcano was hit by a M4.3 earthquake on January 11 — the strongest since measurements began in 1991. Glacial outburst floods are known to increase the likelihood of volcanic eruptions. As a result, the Aviation Color Code for the volcano has been raised to Yellow.
New activity/unrest was reported for 4 volcanoes from January 3 to 9, 2024. During the same period, ongoing activity was reported for 17 volcanoes.
A man is missing after falling into a ground crack caused by recent volcanic activity on Iceland’s Reykjanes Peninsula. The incident occurred in Grindavik, a coastal fishing town near the site of a recent eruption, on Wednesday morning, January 10, 2024.
The Shika Nuclear Power Plant in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan, experienced a 3 m (9.8 feet) tsunami waves after the M7.6 earthquake hit Noto Peninsula on January 1, 2024. While the plant sustained no major damage, the incident has raised concerns about nuclear safety, reminiscent of the Fukushima disaster.
A strong earthquake registered by the USGS as M6.4 hit Hindu Kush, Afghanistan at 09:20 UTC on January 11, 2024. The agency is reporting a depth of 206.6 km (128 miles). EMSC is reporting M6.0 at a depth of 201 km (125 miles).
Eruptive activity at the Lewotobi volcanic complex further increased over the past 10 days, prompting the Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation Center (PVMBG) to raise the Alert Level to the highest (4 of 4) on January 9, 2024.
A strong and shallow earthquake registered by the JMA as M6.0 hit off the coast of Noto Peninsula, Japan at 08:59 UTC on January 9, 2024. The agency is reporting a depth of 10 km (6.2 miles). The USGS is reporting M5.9 at a depth of 10 km.
A strong earthquake registered by the USGS as M6.7 hit near Talaud Islands, Indonesia at 20:48 UTC on January 8, 2024. The agency is reporting a depth of 68 km (42 miles). BMKG is reporting M6.7 at a depth of 97 km (60 miles); EMSC M6.8 at a depth of 91 km (56 miles).
Heavy rainfall, snow, and strong winds have battered most of Italy over the past couple of days, culminating in a deadly snow avalanche in the Formazza Valley of the Piedmont region.
