I'm a dedicated researcher, journalist, and editor at The Watchers. With over 20 years of experience in the media industry, I specialize in hard science news, focusing on extreme weather, seismic and volcanic activity, space weather, and astronomy, including near-Earth objects and planetary defense strategies. You can reach me at teo /at/ watchers.news.
A strong earthquake registered by the USGS as M6.7 hit near the east coast of Honshu, Japan at 11:22 UTC (20:22 LT) on May 15, 2026. The agency is reporting a depth of 44 km (27 miles). EMSC is reporting M6.7 at a depth of 40 km (25 miles). According to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC), there is no tsunami threat from this event.
El Niño has an 82% chance of developing during May–July 2026 and a 96% chance of continuing through Northern Hemisphere winter 2026–27, NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center (CPC) reported on May 14. Current conditions remain ENSO-neutral, and CPC said peak strength remains substantially uncertain, with no strength category above 37%.
A G2 – Moderate geomagnetic storm watch is in effect for May 15, 2026, due to the anticipated impact of a corotating interaction region (CIR) associated with a negative polarity coronal hole high speed stream (CH HSS). G1 conditions are forecast for May 16 and 17.
At least seven people were hospitalized after blowing dust reduced visibility and triggered multiple vehicle crashes along U.S. 91 near Cove, Utah, close to the Idaho border, at around 16:00 MDT (22:00 UTC) on May 13, 2026.
Nine small earthquakes struck the Pardis area east of Tehran overnight on May 12 and 13, 2026, including a M4.6 event near the border of Tehran and Mazandaran provinces, renewing attention on seismic risks around the Iranian capital.
Asteroid 2026 JH2 is expected to pass Earth at a distance of 0.237 LD (0.00061 AU / 91 300 km / 56 700 miles) from the center of our planet at 21:23 UTC on May 18, 2026. Its closest point will be about 84 900 km (52 700 miles) above Earth’s surface.
Darwin VAAC is reporting a rare volcanic ash emission from a submarine volcano in the Bismarck Sea Volcanic Province, Papua New Guinea, since Monday, May 11, 2026. By Wednesday, May 13, ash was rising to about 4 km (13 000 feet) above sea level, while satellite imagery showed water discoloration near the advisory area. Meteorological cloud partly obscured the ash in the latest imagery, but Himawari-9 observations and model guidance continued to support the advisory.
A major spring storm developing over Alberta will bring widespread damaging winds, rain, and localized snowfall across parts of Alberta and Saskatchewan beginning Wednesday night, May 13, 2026, Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) warns.
The Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) raised Mount Kupreanof to Aviation Color Code Yellow and Volcano Alert Level Advisory at 17:01 UTC on May 12, 2026, after seismic activity and sulfur dioxide emissions increased over recent months at the Alaska Peninsula volcano.
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro requested a USDA Secretarial Disaster Designation for all counties after below-freezing temperatures on April 21, 2026, damaged specialty crops across the state. Early estimates place possible economic losses for Pennsylvania’s specialty-crop industry at USD 150 million to USD 200 million.
