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 and shallow earthquake registered by the USGS as M6.7 hit near the coast of Vanuatu at 06:58 UTC on April 6, 2016. The agency is reporting a depth of 33.7 km (20.9 miles). This is the second M6.9 earthquake in this region since April 3. Geoscience…
After a mild winter where temperatures in Ontario more typical of April often appeared, a large arctic high-pressure area sent temperatures plummeting to values more typical of mid-winter on April 5. As a result of unseasonable cold, new record low minimums were set…
A slow-moving area of active thunderstorms brought torrential rainfall to Fiji over the last few days, causing widespread flooding and claiming the life of at least one person. The system is expected to remain over the island nation over the next few days while…
Late-season Tropical Cyclone "Zena" has formed just west of Vanuatu in the south-west Pacific on April 5, 2016. Zena is moving toward the island nation of Fiji where slow-moving area of active thunderstorms brought 208 mm (8.2 inches) of rain on Monday,…
A strong explosion occurred at Mexico's Popocatépetl volcano at 01:31 UTC on April 4, 2016 (20:31 local time on April 3). The volcano, also known as the smoking mountain, is located 70 km (43 miles) SE of Mexico City and is known for its frequent…
According to Thanhnien News, an 8-minute hail storm damaged around 1 000 houses and 100 hectares of vegetable fields in Vietnam's Tuyen Quang province on Sunday, April 3, 2016. Witnesses say many hailstones were 10 to 15 cm (3.9 to 5.9 inches) in diameter. The…
More than 80 people have been killed and, at least, 90 injured after extreme pre-monsoon rains caused floods and landslides across northern Pakistan and Afghanistan on April 2 and 3, 2016. The number of casualties will probably rise as full damage assessments from…
Intermittent weak to moderate ash emissions are being observed at Northeast Crater of Italy's Mount Etna over the last couple of days. Weak incandescence can be observed at night, but current events show no signs that could indicate fresh lava. Surface…
A very strong and shallow earthquake registered by the USGS as M6.9 (downgraded from M7.2) hit near the coast of Vanuatu at 08:23 UTC on April 3, 2016. The agency is reporting a depth of 35 km (21.7 miles). EMSC registered it as M7.0 at a depth of 40 km (24.8…
Our planet is passing through a stream of fast-moving, negative polarity solar wind. Geomagnetic storming reached G1 – Minor levels at 17:24 UTC. A G2 – Moderate warning is in effect for the rest of the UTC day. This is a recurrent CH HSS, responsible for G3 -…
