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.
Record-breaking rainfall submerged streets and disrupted travel across the New York City metropolitan area on September 29, 2023. The deluge set new daily records and made this month the wettest September in New York City’s recorded history.
New activity/unrest was reported for 2 volcanoes from September 20 to 26, 2023. During the same period, ongoing activity was reported for 21 volcanoes.
A strong earthquake registered by the USGS as M6.1 hit Vanuatu at 14:40 UTC on September 28, 2023. The agency is reporting a depth of 127.5 km (79 miles). EMSC is reporting M6.0 at a depth of 126 km (78 miles).
A seismic swarm consisting of approximately 64 events, with magnitudes ranging up to 4.2, has been observed since 05:06 LT on September 26, 2023, in the Campi Flegrei region, Italy.
Increased volcanic activity was detected at the Villarrica volcano in Chile, starting on September 24, 2023, prompting officials to elevate the alert level to Orange. Evacuations have commenced in affected communes, and educational institutions have been temporarily closed.
Areas in Central Greece recently flooded by Storm Daniel could experience another episode of heavy rainfall and flooding.
An ash cloud from Alaska’s Shishaldin Volcano soared above 6 km (20 000 feet) above sea level at 13:24 UTC and up to 13.7 km (45 000 feet) by 14:18 UTC on September 25, 2023. The eruption, monitored through an array of sensors and satellite data, led authorities to elevate the Aviation Color Code to Red and the Volcano Alert Level to Warning.
A high-intensity explosion took place at Italy’s Stromboli volcano at 08:28 UTC on September 25, 2023.
At least three people died and more than 1 300 sought medical help as dust storms swept across Iran’s Sistan-Baluchistan province from September 20 to 22, 2023. Reduced visibility caused by the storms led to fatalities, according to state reports.
A newly-discovered asteroid designated 2023 SL5 flew past Earth at a distance of 0.1 LD / 0.00035 AU (51 864 km / 32 227 miles) at 07:54 UTC on September 20, 2023. This is the 65th known asteroid to fly past Earth since the start of the year and the 12th so far this month.
