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 M6.2 hit near the coast of Java, Indonesia at 18:12 UTC on February 5, 2020 (01:12 LT, February 6). The agency is reporting a depth of 592 km (367 miles). EMSC is reporting the same magnitude and depth. The epicenter was…
An earthquake swarm is in progress at the Michoacan-Guanajuato volcanic field, Mexico. At this time, it's unclear whether the quakes are volcanic or tectonic in origin. The zone contains over 1 400 vents and covers an area of approximately 200 x 250 km (125 x…
White Island volcano (Whakaari) remains in an elevated state of unrest, but no further extrusion of lava has occurred. GNS' assessment is that further explosive eruptions remain very unlikely on any given day. The Volcanic Alert Level remains at Level 2 and the…
A newly-discovered asteroid designated 2020 CW flew past Earth at a very close distance of 0.04 LD / 0.00011 AU (16 455 km / 10 225 mi) at 12:50 UTC on February 1, 2020. This is well within the orbit of our geostationary satellites ~ 35 800 km (22 300 miles). The…
Lava is overflowing the northern portion of Stromboli's crater terrace, INGV Osservatorio Etneo reported at 10:13 UTC on February 3, 2020. Lava overflow, currently small and confined to the summit area, started at about 07:20 UTC today. "The lava flow front…
A large green fireball was recorded over Lebanon at 20:15 UTC (22:15 LT) on January 21, 2020. It was reportedly captured by Nizar Nurr near the peak of Mount Sannine. According to KameraOne, it's one of the brightest meteors ever captured over Lebanon. Featured…
Two newly-discovered asteroids designated 2020 BA15 and 2020 BZ13 flew past Earth within 1 lunar distance on January 28 and 29, respectively. Since the start of the year, our sky surveys have identified a total of 9 asteroids whose orbits took them within 1 lunar…
A very bright meteor streaked through the night sky over the Urals, Russia at 22:13 UTC on January 29, 2020 (03:13 LT, January 30). Photographer Ilya Jankowsky captured it from the town of Irbit, Sverdlovsk Oblast. According to RT, the object was also seen from…
A newly-discovered asteroid designated 2020 BT14 will flyby Earth at 08:19 UTC on February 3, 2020, at a distance of 0.49 LD / 0.00126 AU (188 493 km / 117 124 miles). This is the second known asteroid to flyby Earth within 1 lunar distance this month, making a…
A newly-discovered Aten-class asteroid designated 2020 CA will flyby Earth at 15:49 UTC on February 2, 2020, at a distance of 0.57 LD / 0.00147 AU (219 908 km / 136 645 miles). With 3 other new <1LD approaches since our last update, this is the 9th known asteroid…
