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.
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.
Heavy rainfall since the beginning of August has led to landslides and floods across Nepal, resulting in 11 deaths, with 10 attributed to landslides and one to flooding. This severe weather has also left five people missing and 70 families affected.
Monsoon rains in India, as of August 10, have led to the death of 42 individuals in the span of 24 hours, with Chhattisgarh facing the brunt of the fatalities. National Emergency Response Centre (NDMI) data indicates a rising toll since April 2023.
Tropical Cyclone “Khanun” made landfall on Geojedo Islands, South Korea late August 9, 2023 (UTC), with significant impacts across the country. While moving for 16 hours, the cyclone led to nearly 16,000 evacuations and significant infrastructure damage before dissipating near Pyongyang on August 11.
