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 strong and shallow earthquake registered by the USGS as M6.4 hit sparsely population Xizang-Qinghai border region, China at 07:14 UTC on October 17, 2016. The agency is reporting a depth of 31.2 km (19.94 miles). CENC China is reporting M6.2 at a depth of 9 km…
A very strong and shallow earthquake registered by the Geoscience Australia as M6.8 hit New Britain region of Papua New Guinea at 06:14 UTC on October 17, 2016. The agency is reporting a depth of 0 km. USGS is reporting M6.9 at a depth of 35 km (21.7 miles). GFZ…
Two tornadoes touched down in Oregon on Friday, October 14, 2016, including one EF2 that damaged several city blocks in the coastal town of Manzanita. This round of severe weather across the northwestern US is still not over and it is already one for the record…
A strong and deep earthquake registered by the USGS as M6.4 hit New Britain region of Papua New Guinea at 08:03 UTC on October 15, 2016. The agency is reporting a depth of 446.6 km (277.5 miles). Geoscience Australia is reporting M6.2 at a depth of 440 km (273.4…
Contrary to announcement made last month that Australia is about to close its permanent sub-Antarctic research base at World Heritage-listed Macquarie Island after almost 70 years of continuous presence, the government has instead decided to boost the funding and…
Earth is embedded in the always-expanding atmosphere of the Sun, called the solar wind, which blows past planets to the edge of the Solar System. Solar wind is typically supersonic, faster than the speed of sound, and when it encounters planets, like Earth, a shock…
In the past 7 years, meteorites have made at least 222 impact craters on the surface of the Moon which is 33% more than predicted, according to a new study published this week in Nature. The work is considered a significant advance in the field of crater chronology….
A filament in Sun's northeast quadrant erupted between 15:00 and 17:00 UTC on Saturday, October 8, 2016, producing an asymmetric, partial-halo CME. The CME, although faint, was first observed in LASCO C2 imagery beginning 00:48 UTC on October 9. It reached ACE…
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New activity/unrest was reported for 5 volcanoes between October 5 and 11, 2016. During the same period, ongoing activity was reported for 12 volcanoes. New activity/unrest: Asosan,Kyushu (Japan) | Colima, Mexico | Karymsky, Eastern Kamchatka (Russia) | Tengger…
This month, for the first time, scientists have started using a new geospace forecast model that can give unique data for each 900 km2 (350 mi2) plot of Earth, up to 45 minutes before a solar storm hits. The model provides short-term guidance of the state of…
