A volcano in Ethiopia’s north-eastern region has erupted for the first time in nearly 12,000 years, sending thick plumes of smoke as high as 9 miles (14km) into the sky and pushing ash clouds across the Red Sea toward Yemen and Oman. The Hayli Gubbi volcano, situated in the Afar region about 500 miles north-east of Addis Ababa near the Eritrean border, erupted on Sunday for several hours.
According to local official Mohammed Seid, there were no casualties, but the eruption could have serious economic consequences for the community of livestock herders living nearby. He noted that there was no previous record of an eruption from Hayli Gubbi, and he expressed concern for the residents’ livelihoods. “While no human lives and livestock have been lost so far, many villages have been covered in ash and as a result their animals have little to eat,” he said.
The volcano, which rises roughly 500 metres above sea level, lies within the Rift Valley, a zone known for intense geological activity where two tectonic plates meet. The Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre (VAAC) reported that ash clouds from the eruption drifted over Yemen, Oman, India, and northern Pakistan.
The Afar region is prone to frequent earthquakes, and resident Ahmed Abdela said he heard a loud blast followed by what he described as a shock wave. “It felt like a sudden bomb had been thrown with smoke and ash,” he said.
In videos shared on social media, which AFP could not immediately verify, a thick column of white smoke could be seen rising. The Smithsonian Institution’s Global Volcanism Program said Hayli Gubbi has had no known eruptions during the Holocene, which began about 12,000 years ago at the end of the last ice age. Simon Carn, a volcanologist and professor at the Michigan Technological University, confirmed on Bluesky that Hayli Gubbi “has no record of Holocene eruptions”.
Source: The Guardian
