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.
A destructive tornado hit Laguna Heights near Port Isabel on the Texas coastline, causing widespread damage, killing one person, and injuring at least ten others on May 13, 2023.
Indonesia’s Anak Krakatau volcano started erupting on May 11, 2023, after nearly a month and a half of quiescence.
Mocha is expected to cross the coast of southeast Bangladesh and north Myanmar on May 14, 2023, as a very dangerous extremely severe cyclonic storm. This is the first named storm of the 2023 North Indian Ocean cyclone season.
A shallow earthquake registered by the USGS as M5.5 hit Lake Almanor, Northern California at 23:19 UTC on May 11, 2023. The quake was followed by a series of aftershocks, including M5.2 at 10:18 UTC on May 12.
A newly-discovered asteroid designated 2023 JO flew past Earth at a distance of just 0.24 LD / 0.00062 AU (92 277 km / 57 339 miles) at 20:14 UTC on May 8, 2023. This is the 32nd known asteroid to fly past Earth within 1 lunar distance since the start of the year and the second so far this month.
Tropical Cyclone “Mocha” formed on May 11, 2023, as the first named storm of the 2023 North Indian Ocean cyclone season. The system is expected to make landfall along the Bangladesh-Myanmar border on May 14 as a very severe cyclonic storm.
New activity/unrest was reported for 6 volcanoes from May 3 to 9, 2023. During the same period, ongoing activity was reported for 16 volcanoes.
A very strong earthquake registered by the USGS as M7.4 hit Tonga region at 16:02 UTC on May 10, 2023. The agency is reporting a depth of 213 km (132 miles). EMSC is reporting M7.3 at a depth of 211 km (131 miles).
A meteorite approximately 6.7 cm (2.6 inches) in diameter pierced through the roof of a family home in the state of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany at 14:14 LT on April 25, 2023. The event took place 13 days before a similar incident in New Jersey, US. Fortunately, neither event caused injuries.
High solar activity was observed on May 10, 2023, primarily due to the enhanced flare potential of Region 3296. The most significant event from the region was an M4.2 flare, which resulted in a well-defined partial halo Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) signature, expected to hit Earth sometime after 18:00 UTC on May 11. The 10 MeV proton flux peaked at 38 pfu, dropped below Minor – S1 solar radiation storm levels by 12:35 UTC on May 9, but still above average, and then rose back over the 10 pfu threshold due to the May 7 CME passage.
