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 M6.3 hit Ecuador at 02:11 UTC on July 11, 2016. The agency is reporting a depth of 19.2 km (11.9 miles). The quake was preceded, 10 minutes earlier, by a M5.8 earthquake at a depth of 17.4 km (10.8…
A strong and shallow earthquake registered by the USGS as M6.0 hit near Tonga at 13:41 UTC on July 10, 2016. The agency is reporting a depth of 10 km (6.2 miles). The epicenter was located 140 km (87.0 miles) NE of Hihifo, Tonga, 176 km (109.4 miles) SW of Apia,…
A very bright fireball was observed over Northern Africa at 21:05 UTC on July 8, 2016, and recorded by Spain's SMART Project meteor-observing network. The data collected by SMART network have been analyzed by its principal investigator, Professor José…
Super Typhoon "Nepartak" hit Taiwan on July 7, forcing thousands to leave their homes and leaving a trail of destruction. At least 2 people have died and 69 were injured, according to latest reports. Nepartak hit the eastern county of Taitung about 21:50…
Another round of severe weather is expected over portions of the Northen Plains and Northern Mississippi Valley starting Wednesday, July 6 through Thursday, July 7 and Friday, July 8, 2016. Residents should prepare for heavy rain, damaging winds, large hail,…
A series of low pressure systems will trek across the Tasman from July 6 into the weekend, resulting in locally heavy rain and the potential for flooding and slips for the east of the New Zealand's North Island. Appreciable snowfall is also possible for the ski…
Nepartak has rapidly strengthened into a major typhoon on July 5, 2016, and the current JTWC forecast track takes it right over the northern Taiwan on July 7 and over the coast of East China as it makes a second landfall on July 8. A poleward turn is expected after…
A massive landslide hit Alaska's Glacier Bay National Park on June 28, 2016, when a 1.2-km-high (4 000 feet) mountain collapsed. The event spread debris for kilometers across the glacier below. Just 16 km (10 miles) away, the glacier ends in Johns Hopkins Inlet,…
Ice cores from Greenland and Antarctica show that there was a period during the last ice age, when our planet experienced dozens of abrupt temperature shifts. Plummeting and rising again every 1500 years or so, those sudden temperature shifts wreaked havoc on the…
A newly published study offers evidence that the negative phase of the Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation (IPO), which is characterized by cooler-than-average sea surface temperatures in the tropical eastern Pacific, has created favorable conditions for additional…
