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.
On Saturday, April 29, 2017, Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin declared a state of emergency for all 77 Oklahoma counties due to severe storms, flooding, straight-line winds, tornadoes and snow impacting the state. The massive storm system has delivered widespread rain…
At least 54 people were injured and 5 killed after a violent wedge tornado touched down near Canton, Texas on Saturday, April 29, 2017. NWS confirmed two more tornadoes in the region, one in Eustace and the other in Caney City. Damage surveys are in progress and it…
24 people were killed after a landslide tore through a part of a village in southwestern Kyrgyzstan early Saturday, April 29, 2017. According to local authorities, residents ignored official warnings. The slide hit the village of Ayu in the Uzgen District of Osh…
At least 59 houses burned to the ground as massive fire engulfed Bubnovka village in Russia's Irkutsk Region on April 28, 2017. Although the settlement is located on an island, rescuers managed to save all residents before it burned to the ground. Hundreds of…
A very strong and shallow earthquake registered by the USGS as M6.8 (downgraded from M7.2) hit near the coast of Mindanao, Philippines at 20:23 UTC on April 28, 2017 (04:23 local time on April 29). The agency is reporting a depth of 41.7 km (25.9 miles). PHIVOLCS is…
Violent thunderstorms in northern Italy produced a destructive tornado around 16:00 UTC on April 27, 2017. The tornado touched down between Rovigo and Ferrara, damaging numerous houses and buildings, of which several were completely destroyed, uprooting trees and…
A powerful explosive eruption occurred at the Showa crater of Sakurajima volcano in Kagoshima Prefecture, southwestern Japan at 02:01 UTC on April 28, 2017 (11:01 JST). Several smaller eruptions followed. The Japan Meteorological Agency said it is the first such…
After one and a half year of quiescence, Japan's Nishinoshima volcano entered a new eruptive phase on April 20, 2017, and aerial imagery now shows there are at least two new craters spewing large amounts of lava. The latest eruptions at the volcano are…
A near-Earth asteroid designated 2017 HG4 flew past Earth at a distance of 0.61 LD (~234 240 km / 145 550 miles) on April 22, 2017, four days before it was discovered. This makes it the 20th known asteroid to fly past Earth within 1 lunar distance since January 9,…
Tropical Cyclone 17S (Frances) formed near the coast of Northern Territory, Australia on April 27, 2017, as the 7th named storm of the 2016/17 Australian region cyclone season. Frances is moving southwest and is expected to somewhat intensify over the next 24 hours,…
