Violent Sunspot explosion sends powerful solar flares to Earth, sparks blackouts; More expected today

tech.hindustantimes.com:

Two days ago, it was reported that a particularly unstable sunspot, AR3165 has been causing worries for the astronomers and it appears that the worries have come true. Since late night on December 15, this particular sunspot has witnessed multiple explosions that sparked more than 18 M-class solar flares. The magnetic filaments that carry an extremely high proportion of ultraviolet radiation and magnetic fields have been bombarding the Earth. As a result, there have been frequent shortwave radio blackouts on Earth causing trouble for radio operators, airlines and ships, which require GPS to operate. But it seems the worst is yet to come. Read on.

The report came from SpaceWeather.com which noted on its website, “Sunspot AR3165 is crackling with M-class solar flares, more than 18 in the last two days. Pulses of extreme ultraviolet radiation are ionizing the top of Earth's atmosphere, causing frequent shortwave radio blackouts. The blackout events are regional, like this one, but they are rolling around the globe as Earth turns beneath the flaring sun.

So far, the majority of the radiation has affected ocean regions and some parts of Australia and New Zealand, but the risk of shortwave radio blackouts reaching the continental areas is very high as the Earth turns and the solar flares do not seem to stop. A badly-timed solar flare eruption can easily cause big problems for people in the USA, Europe and even India as these solar flares will directly impact ham radio operators which are used for many communication channels as well as contacting ships in the ocean. Further, temporary disruptions in GPS usage can also cause a plethora of problems for people.

So far, the most intense solar flare observed in the last 48 hours were