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 very strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.2 (PHIVOLCS) hit near the coast of Mindanao, Philippines at 03:39 UTC (11:39 LT) on December 29, 2018. The agency is reporting a depth of 54 km (33 miles). Both USGS and EMSC registered it as M7.0 at a…
A positive polarity coronal hole high speed stream (CH HSS) is affecting our planet since late December 27, sparking G1 – Minor geomagnetic storm. Periods of active conditions are likely through December 29 followed by quiet to unsettled activity on December 30…
Tropical Depression "Usman" continues moving erratically over the Philippine Sea. The current forecast track takes it over Eastern Samar between late December 28 and early morning December 29, 2018 (local time). Residents of affected areas, especially…
A strong gas-steam activity accompanied by ash emission continues at Sheveluch volcano, Kamchatka, Russia. The Aviation Color Code remains Orange. A gas-steam with ash plume is currently drifting NE of the volcano, KVERT reports. At 02:30 UTC, volcanic ash was…
Two phreatic eruption events were observed at 00:17 and 00:28 UTC (08:17 and 08:28 LT) on December 27, 2018. These events generated grayish to grayish white ash plume that rose 600 meters (2 000 feet) and 200 meters (650 feet) above the summit, respectively, before…
Volcanic activity at Anak Krakatau continues increasing, forcing Indonesian authorities to raise the alert level from 2 to 3 (of 4) at 23:00 UTC on December 26, 2018 (06:00 WIB, December 27). More tsunamis are possible and BMKG recommends communities to stay 500 m -…
Heavy rains and strong winds affecting Sri Lanka over the past couple of days resulted in severe flash floods and evacuations in the country's north. According to media reports, this severe weather event lasted for several days, affecting 74 793 people or 23 265…
A very shallow earthquake registered by the EMSC as M5.1 hit under Sicily's Etna volcano, Italy at 02:19 UTC (03:19 LT) on December 26, 2018. The agency is reporting a depth of 1 km (0.6 miles). INGV is reporting M4.9 at a depth of 2 km (1.2 miles). This is the…
NASA's AIM spacecraft is monitoring a 4 800-km wide (3000 miles) ring of noctilucent clouds circling high above Antarctica. The 2018 southern hemisphere noctilucent season began on November 21, said Cora Randall, a member of the AIM science team at the…
A major storm will impact much of the Western U.S. through Christmas Day with heavy rainfall, mountain snow, and strong winds. This system will advance into the Plains by Wednesday, December 26 where winter storm watches are in effect. Travel will likely become…
