(Source: The Guardian) A volcano in the Afar region of Ethiopia has erupted for the first time in almost 12,000 years, releasing enormous ash clouds that reached heights of 14km (9 miles) into the atmosphere and sending ash plumes drifting across the Red Sea towards Yemen and Oman, officials reported on Monday.
The Hayli Gubbi volcano, situated approximately 500 miles northeast of Addis Ababa near the border with Eritrea, erupted for several hours on Sunday. While there have been no reports of casualties, local officials caution that the region’s livestock-herding communities may face significant economic repercussions.
“Many villages have been covered in ash and their animals have little to eat,” said local official Mohammed Seid, noting there is no previous recorded eruption of the volcano.
Residents described hearing a loud blast and feeling a shock wave. “It felt like a sudden bomb had been thrown with smoke and ash,” said Ahmed Abdela.
The eruption took place within the seismically active Rift Valley, where tectonic plates are gradually separating. The Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC) indicated that ash was not only drifting over Yemen and Oman but also reaching as far as India and northern Pakistan. Online satellite images displayed a towering column of white ash, although some videos circulating on social media have yet to be verified.
The Global Volcanism Program of the Smithsonian Institution confirmed that Hayli Gubbi had no recorded eruptions during the Holocene epoch, which spans roughly 12,000 years. Volcanologist Simon Carn from Michigan Technological University also confirmed that there is no record of modern eruptions for this volcano. Authorities are actively monitoring ash fall and the possibility of aftershocks in the Afar region, which is recognized for its frequent geological activity.
