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 earthquake registered by the USGS as M6.1 hit off the coast of Isangel, Vanuatu at 05:01 UTC on January 8, 2021. The agency is reporting a depth of 117 km (72 miles). EMSC is reporting M6.1 at a depth of 120 km (75 miles). The epicenter was located 147 km…
A strong earthquake registered by the USGS as M6.3 hit the Kermadec Islands, New Zealand at 00:28 UTC on January 8, 2021. The agency is reporting a depth of 224 km (139 miles). EMSC is reporting M6.3 at a depth of 182 km (113 miles). This is the second M6+…
New activity/unrest was reported for 4 volcanoes from December 30, 2020 to January 5, 2021. During the same period, ongoing activity was reported for 15 volcanoes. New activity/unrest: Kilauea, Hawaiian Islands (USA) | Merapi, Central Java (Indonesia) | Soufriere…
More than 500 people living on the fertile slopes of Merapi volcano in Indonesia were forced to evacuate on January 7, 2021, after a brief eruption at 01:02 UTC produced a pyroclastic flow with ash rising up to 3 km (10 000 feet) above sea level. The pyroclastic…
A strong earthquake registered by the USGS as M6.1 hit North Sulawesi, Indonesia at 20:59 UTC on January 6, 2021. The agency is reporting a depth of 157 km (97 miles). EMSC is reporting M6.1 at a depth of 161 km (100 miles). The epicenter was located 60 km (37…
Lava activity at Hawai'ian Kilauea volcano is confined to Halemaʻumaʻu with lava erupting from vents on the northwest side of the crater, the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) reported at 19:11 UTC on January 5, 2021. Early January 5 (UTC), the lava lake was…
A Sudden Stratospheric Warming event started over the weekend in association with a significant weakening or reversal of westerly winds circulating around the North Pole — between 10 and 50 km (6 – 31 miles) above the ground — the stratospheric polar vortex. …
A strong and shallow earthquake registered by the USGS as M6.2 hit the Kermadec Islands region at 06:20 UTC on January 6, 2021. The agency is reporting a depth of 26.1 km (16.2 miles). EMSC is reporting M6.2 at a depth of 30 km (18 miles). The epicenter was located…
The National Weather Service (NWS) confirmed that two tornadoes touched down in Tehama County, California on Monday, January 4, 2021. In the NWS Sacramento forecast area there were 39 tornadoes reported from 2010 – 2020. This works out to about 4 tornadoes a year,…
A series of eruptions took place at the Indonesian Sinabung volcano over the past couple of days, with ash rising up to 3.6 km (12 000 feet) a.s.l. Unfortunately, frequent meteorological clouds are preventing clear observations. Three eruptions, each lasting several…
