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 JMA as M6.7 hit near the coast of Hokkaido, Japan at 03:25 UTC on January 14, 2016. The agency is reporting a depth of 50 km (31 miles). USGS is reporting M6.7 at a depth of 51.4 km (31.9 miles). According to the USGS, the epicenter…
A strong and very deep earthquake registered by the USGS as M6.1 hit Bolivia at 03:25 UTC on January 14, 2016. The agency is reporting a depth of 582.4 km (361.9 miles). The epicenter was located 7 km (4 miles) WSW of Charagua, 34 km (21 miles) NE of Camiri, 159 km…
A strong earthquake registered by JMA as M6.0 at a depth of 260 km (161 miles) hit off the coast of Hokkaido, Japan at 17:08 UTC on January 11, 2016. USGS is reporting M6.1 at a depth of 236.1 km (146.7 miles). According to the USGS, the epicenter was located 75 km…
A very strong and shallow earthquake registered by Geoscience Australia as M6.8 hit off the coast of Talaud Islands, Indonesia at 16:38 UTC on January 11, 2016. The agency is reporting a depth of 29 km (18 miles). USGS is reporting M6.5 at a depth of 20.8 km (12.9…
Tropical Cyclone "Ula", formed on December 30, 2015, intensified on January 7 after moving away from Fiji in the Southern Pacific Ocean. The system is expected to reach its second peak by January 10 while staying east of Noumea, New Caledonia and then turn…
New activity/unrest was observed at 5 volcanoes from December 30, 2015 – January 5, 2016. During the same period, ongoing activity was reported for 12 volcanoes. New activity/unrest: Etna, Sicily (Italy) | Kanlaon, Philippines | Nevados de Chillán, Chile …
A slow-moving low pressure system near Port Stephens (Hunter Region), New South Wales, Australia produced very heavy rain between January 5 and 6, 2016, causing both riverine and flash flooding from the Central Coast to the Mid North Coast. The severe weather has…
Volcanic activity at Indonesian Mount Soputan is rapidly increasing with a new series of moderate to strong eruptions. On January 4, authorities raised the volcanic alert level from 2 to 3 (out of 4) and prohibited all activities within a radius of 4 km (2.5 miles)…
A strong and shallow earthquake registered by India's Meteorological Department as M6.7 at a depth of 17 km (10.6 miles) hit very populated India-Myanmar border region at 23:05 UTC on January 3, 2016. The agency said the epicenter was in Tamenglong region of…
The Quadrantid meteor shower will reach its peak activity, with about 80 meteors per hour (ZHR), on the night of January 3 and the early morning hours of January 4, 2015. A waning crescent moon will not interfere much with meteors and any of its fireballs. This…
