EthiopiaS Hayli Gubbi Volcano Erupts After 12,000 Years of Silence
AFAR REGION, ETHIOPIA – The Hayli Gubbi volcano in Ethiopia‘s north-eastern Afar region erupted on Sunday, sending plumes of smoke up to 9 miles (14km) into the atmosphere and across the Red sea toward Yemen, Oman, India and northern Pakistan. This marks the volcano’s first eruption in nearly 12,000 years, a period spanning the entirety of the Holocene epoch.
The eruption, occurring approximately 500 miles north-east of Addis Ababa near the Eritrean border, poses immediate challenges to local livestock herders as ashfall blankets grazing lands, threatening animal feed. While no casualties have been reported, the event highlights the intense geological activity within the Afar region – a critical juncture where tectonic plates meet – and raises questions about potential long-term impacts on regional air quality and ecosystems.
Local official Mohammed Seid reported no prior record of eruptions from Hayli Gubbi, expressing concern for the livelihoods of residents. “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,” Seid said. The volcano, rising approximately 500 metres, is situated within the Rift Valley.
Resident Ahmed Abdela described hearing a loud sound and feeling a shock wave. “It felt like a sudden bomb had been thrown with smoke and ash,” he said. Videos circulating on social media, though unverified by AFP, depict a considerable column of white smoke rising from the volcano.
According to the Smithsonian Institution’s Global Volcanism Program and volcanologist Simon Carn of Michigan Technological University, Hayli Gubbi had no known eruptions during the Holocene, which began at the end of the last ice age. The VAAC confirmed ash clouds drifted over Yemen, Oman, India and northern Pakistan.
