The Watchers team and our contributors bring the latest on extreme weather, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, space weather, and all things science. We're all about making sense of the natural world and keeping you informed on what’s happening. Got a tip or a question? Hit us up using the form at newstips!
A newly discovered asteroid named 2017 DV36 flew past Earth at 1.02 LD (391 680 km / 243 378 miles) on February 27, 2017. Its closest approach occurred at 02:57 UTC. 2017 DV36 belongs to the Apollo group of asteroids. It was discovered by Mt. Lemmon Survey on…
A massive mine waste landslide from an open pit coal mine occurred at Kakanj in Bosnia and Herzegovina last week, blocking a river and forcing 150 people to evacuate Friday, February 24, 2017. The lake created by the landslide overflowed Saturday morning, February…
The activity at Guatemalan Fuego volcano continues with constant moderate explosions ejecting columns of ash and smoke up to 5 km (16 404 feet) above sea level and traveling more than 25 km to the NE, N, NE and E. Ashfall is reported in areas near Alotenango and San…
Three people have died and two are missing after heavy rain hit South Africa's North West causing severe flooding in the wake of Tropical Cyclone "Dineo." Major roads in the South Africa's North West province have been temporarily closed due to…
A strong and deep earthquake registered by the USGS as M6.9 hit Fiji – Tonga region at 17:28 UTC on February 24, 2017. The agency is reporting a depth of 396.1 km (246.1 miles). EMSC is reporting M6.9 at a depth of 400 km (248.5 miles). According to the USGS, the…
At least one person is dead, 3 are missing and 2 000 have been displaced after heavy, unseasonal rainfall caused severe flooding in central and western parts of Columbia between February 21 and 23, 2017. More heavy rain is expected over the weekend. According to…
Like the country didn't have enough natural disasters over the past several months, and years, yet another unstoppable disaster is affecting Italy's central region of Abruzzo, albeit rather slowly. Civil authorities reported a slow-moving landslide is…
A newly discovered asteroid named 2017 DR34 will make a very close approach to Earth, passing only 0.57 LD (218 880 km / 136 005 miles) from the surface of our planet on February 25, 2017. This is the second near-Earth asteroid to flyby within 1 lunar distance since…
Our planet is under the influence of a recurrent, positive polarity coronal hole high speed stream since around 20:48 UTC on February 23. This is causing G1 geomagnetic storming. Geomagnetic K-index of 5 (G1 – Minor geomagnetic storm) threshold was first reached at…
Scientists at the Earth-Life Science Institute at the Tokyo Institute of Technology reported in Nature yesterday their unexpected discoveries about the Earth's core. The findings include insights into the source of energy driving the Earth's magnetic field,…
