Volcano in Ethiopia erupts for first time in practically 12,000 years: “It felt like a sudden bomb”

Metro Loud
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A volcano in Ethiopia’s northeastern area erupted for the primary time in practically 12,000 years, sending thick plumes of smoke as much as 9 miles into the sky, the Toulouse Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre (VAAC) mentioned.

The Hayli Gubbi volcano, situated in Ethiopia’s Afar area about 500 miles northeast of Addis Ababa close to the Eritrean border, erupted on Sunday for a number of hours.

The volcano, which rises about 1,500 ft yards in altitude, sits throughout the Rift Valley, a zone of intense geological exercise the place two tectonic plates meet.

Ash clouds from the volcano drifted over Yemen, Oman, India, and northern Pakistan, mentioned the VAAC, which posted a map of the trail of the ash cloud.

Simon Carn, a volcanologist and professor on the Michigan Technological College, confirmed on Bluesky that the ash cloud was “spreading quickly east within the subtropical jet stream, over the Arabian Sea in the direction of NW India and Pakistan.”

On this photograph launched by the Afar Authorities Communication Bureau, ash billows from an eruption of the long-dormant Hayli Gubbi Volcano in Ethiopia’s Afar area, Sunday, Nov. 23, 2025.

Afar Authorities Communication Bureau through AP


In movies shared on social media, which AFP couldn’t instantly confirm, a thick column of white smoke might be seen rising.

The Smithsonian Establishment’s International Volcanism Program mentioned Hayli Gubbi has had no identified eruptions in the course of the Holocene, which started round 12,000 years in the past on the finish of the final Ice Age. Carn confirmed on Bluesky that Hayli Gubbi “has no report of Holocene eruptions.”

An area administrator, Mohammed Seid, mentioned there have been no casualties, however the eruption may have financial implications for the local people of livestock herders.

Seid informed The Related Press that there was no earlier report of an eruption by the Hayli Gubbi volcano, and that he fears for the livelihoods of residents.

“Whereas no human lives and livestock have been misplaced thus far, many villages have been coated in ash and because of this their animals have little to eat,” he mentioned.

The Afar area is susceptible to earthquakes and a resident, Ahmed Abdela, informed the AP he heard a loud sound and what he described as a shock wave.

“It felt like a sudden bomb had been thrown with smoke and ash,” he mentioned.

CORRECTION Ethiopia Volcano

On this photograph launched by the Afar Authorities Communication Bureau, individuals watch ash billow from an eruption of the long-dormant Hayli Gubbi Volcano in Ethiopia’s Afar area, Sunday, Nov. 23, 2025. 

AP


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