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 strong and shallow earthquake registered by the USGS as M6.1 hit Banda Sea, Indonesia at 08:23 UTC on April 22, 2023. The agency is reporting a depth of 34.7 km (21.5 miles). EMSC is reporting M6.2 at a depth of 20 km (12.4 miles).
A historic hailstorm hit Havana, Cuba on April 20, 2023, with hail the size never before seen in Cuba. This event will enter history books as one of the most important hailstorm events in known history.
A notable eruptive pulse took place at Ecuador’s Sangay volcano on April 21, 2023, producing large volcanic ash emissions and ashfall west of the volcano.
An Earth-facing filament near Active Region 3283 erupted at 18:12 UTC on April 21, 2023, producing an M1.7 solar flare and a strong coronal mass ejection (CME).
Ireland experienced its wettest March on record last month, with 173.3 mm (6.8 inches) or 169% of the average for the month. The wettest March followed on from what was confirmed provisionally as the fourth driest February on record. Before last month, the previous wettest March was in 2019.
The Department of Water Resources (DWR) announced the first full water supply allocation since 2006, benefiting 27 million residents across California after a record winter.
In early March 2023, Peru was hit by Cyclone Yaku — the country’s first cyclone in 40 years. Its impact coincided with the beginning of the El Niño Costero phenomenon, extending the rainy season and leading to large-scale floods and landslides which forced the Government of Peru to declare a state of emergency in over half of the country. Heavy rains and flooding are expected to continue until June.
New activity/unrest was reported for 3 volcanoes from April 12 to 18, 2023. During the same period, ongoing activity was reported for 18 volcanoes.
Rice production for 2023 is set to log its largest shortfall in two decades, according to Fitch Solutions. This severe global deficit is primarily driven by the ongoing war in Ukraine, and weather-related challenges in major rice-producing countries like China and Pakistan.
A large and impressive dust storm swept across China on April 19, 2023, ushering much colder temperatures to the country experiencing unusually high April temperatures.
