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 team of researchers utilizing data provided by NASA’s InSight mission has confirmed two new seismic events caused by meteoroid impacts on Mars, bringing the total number to 8. The study, employing a combination of seismic data and orbital imagery, has successfully pinpointed fresh impact craters, enhancing our understanding of Martian surface and atmospheric interactions.
New activity/unrest was reported for 2 volcanoes from December 27, 2023, to January 2, 2024. During the same period, ongoing activity was reported for 23 volcanoes.
A newly-discovered asteroid designated 2024 AD will fly past Earth at a distance of 0.6 LD / 0.00162 AU (242 647 km / 150 791 miles) from the center of our planet at 18:15 UTC on January 4, 2024.
Tropical Cyclone “Alvaro” made landfall near Morombe, Madagascar on January 1, 2024, affecting over 4 500 people and causing significant property damage.
A very strong and shallow earthquake registered by the JMA as M7.6 hit near the west coast of Honshu, Japan at 07:10 UTC (16:10 local time) on January 1, 2024. USGS and EMSC are reporting it as M7.5 at a depth of 10 km (6.2 miles).
A major X5.0 solar flare erupted from Active Region 3536 at 21:55 UTC on December 31, 2023. The event started at 21:36 and ended at 22:08 UTC. This is now the strongest solar flare of the current solar cycle — Solar Cycle 25 — and the strongest flare since X9.3 on September 6, 2017.
A strong and shallow earthquake registered by the BMKG as M6.4 hit near the north coast of Papua, Indonesia at 17:16 UTC on December 30, 2023. The agency is reporting a depth of 40 km (25 miles). USGS and EMSC are reporting M6.3 at a depth of 39 km (24 miles).
A strong and shallow earthquake registered by the BMKG as M6.3 hit off the west coast of northern Sumatra, Indonesia at 05:19 UTC (12:19 local time) on December 30, 2023, at a depth of 12 km (7.4 miles). USGS and EMSC report this quake as M5.6 at a depth of 10 km (6.2 miles).
More than 60 people have died and 16 remain missing in the Democratic Republic of Congo following torrential rains that triggered devastating floods and landslides over the past couple of days.
A strong and shallow earthquake registered by the USGS as M6.5 hit Kuril Islands at 09:15 UTC on December 28, 2023. The agency is reporting a depth of 23.8 km (14.8 miles). EMSC is reporting M6.5 at a depth of 13 km (8 miles).
