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.
New activity/unrest was reported for 5 volcanoes from April 27 to May 3, 2022. During the same period, ongoing activity was reported 16 volcanoes. New activity/unrest: Batu Tara, Komba Island | Gaua, Banks Islands (Vanuatu) | Karymsky, Eastern Kamchatka (Russia) | Krakatau, Sunda Strait | Ruapehu, North Island (New Zealand). Ongoing activity: Aira, Kyushu (Japan)…
Major damage was reported in parts of Texas and Oklahoma after a series of tornadoes ripped through the region. On Thursday, May 5, severe thunderstorms are expected from eastern Texas into the mid-Mississippi Valley. Storms will shift over the lower Mississippi into the Tennessee Valleys on Friday, then Saturday into Monday from the central Plains into the Midwest.
A severe hailstorm struck Murcia, Spain on May 2, 2022, causing major damage to the apricot crop. The Region of Murcia is located in the southeast part of the Iberian Peninsula and produces two-thirds of Spain’s apricot. The storm comes one month after early April frost caused massive damage to stone fruit in Ebro valley, one of the most important producing areas of sweet fruit in Europe.
At least 5 people have been killed, 5 are missing and thousands have been displaced after heavy rains hit parts of Mbeya and Songwe, Tanzania over the past couple of days.
Wildfires continue to burn across northern New Mexico, southwestern U.S., resulting in at least 15 injured people and evacuation orders for more than 25 000 people.
A strong heavy sound of an explosion was heard by people living near Gaua volcano, Vanuatu on May 3, 2022, followed by a significant thick ash plume. The volcanic Alert Level remains at Level 2 – high level of the major unrest state. The last known eruption of this volcano took place in 2011 (VEI 1).
A moderately strong solar flare measuring M5.7 erupted from geoeffective Active Region 3004 at 08:59 UTC on May 4, 2022. The event started at 08:45 and ended at 09:10 UTC.
A major solar flare measuring X1.1 erupted from a region located at the Sun’s southeastern limb at 13:25 UTC on May 3, 2022. The event started at 13:09 UTC and ended at 13:31.
France has culled a record 16 million chickens, ducks and other poultry since November 2021 in one of the most severe bird flu outbreaks in years. In 2021, the country saw nearly 500 outbreaks and culled 3.5 million animals, mostly ducks.
A steam plume was seen above Ruapehu’s Crater Lake at around 09:45 LT on May 3, 2022 (21:45 UTC on May 2). No seismic or acoustic activity accompanied the plume appearance, indicating the steam plume was not generated by strong activity in the lake.
