Update #2: 5:20pm Eastern Time

Solar Notes: The top watch right now is filamentary. The sunspots are unworthy and running to hide behind the limb. Filament releasing on the SW limb, with two sizable ones incoming north and south.

Earthquake Watch Score: 5 to 6. The coronal fields are closed. Right now, recent space weather is bolstering our averages-factor – we’ve been building pressure without release for a while.

Update #1: 8:00am Eastern

On the heels of the two now-registered quakes (Africa/New Zealand) we have two quakes in the south Atlantic. Last night’s watch score was 5 but it should be considered 6 now due to what we can legitimately call an uptick in moderate quaking.

We are still way below the USGS claimed “three 6-mag quakes per week” as we have had only one 5.9/6.0 in the month of December. Pressure is ALWAYS building, which is why the law of averages works for this (as opposed to Vegas for example).