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.
Dense fog and smoke have combined to form what is known as super fog, heavily impacting Interstate 55 in Louisiana’s St. John the Baptist Parish on Monday morning, October 23, 2023, and leading to a massive vehicle pileup in which at least 7 people lost their lives and more than 25 were taken to hospitals with injuries ranging from minor to critical.
Entire crops were lost and farmlands inundated as Storm Babet struck Scotland between October 19 and 22, 2023. The River Esk in Brechin overflowed its 3.8 m (12.5 feet) high flood walls, leading to unprecedented flooding in areas like Angus and Perthshire.
Tropical Cyclone “Lola” formed on October 21, 2023, as the first named storm of the 2023/24 South Pacific cyclone season. It formed 10 days before the official start of the season. The cyclone is intensifying as it moves south toward Vanuatu.
Hurricane “Norma” made landfall in Baja California Sur at 20:15 UTC on October 21, 2023, with winds of 130 km/h (80 mph), later weakening into a tropical depression near Culiacan. The storm led to the evacuation of around 200 people in Cabo San Lucas and La Paz.
A strong and shallow earthquake registered by the USGS as M6.0 hit Kermadec Islands, New Zealand at 10:10 UTC on October 23, 2023. The agency is reporting a depth of 23.1 km (14.3 miles). EMSC is reporting M6.1 at a depth of 10 km (6.2 miles).
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology reported a significant rise in both seismic activity and lava effusion at Mayon Volcano on October 21, 2023.
On January 15, 2022, the Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha’apai underwater volcanic eruption led to a sudden and significant loss of stratospheric ozone. This event occurred over the tropical southwestern Pacific and Indian Ocean region. Researchers found that the eruption injected an unprecedented amount of water vapor into the stratosphere, causing chemical reactions that resulted in rapid ozone depletion.
Tropical Cyclone “Tej” is heading toward the Yemen – Oman border region, where landfall is expected late October 24 or early October 25, 2023. Tej is the 3rd named storm of the 2023 North Indian Ocean cyclone season.
Tammy intensified into a hurricane at 14:00 UTC on Friday, October 20, 2023, some 150 km (90 miles) NE of Barbados and 275 km (170 miles) ESE of Martinique.
Tropical Storm “Tammy” is expected to strengthen into a hurricane by October 21, 2023, as it moves towards the Leeward Islands. Heavy rains, wind, and potential flooding are expected to begin today, affecting several Caribbean islands.
