Ethiopia's Haile Gobi Volcano Erupts After 12,000 Years of Silence
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The Haile Gobi volcano in northeastern Ethiopia erupted for the first time in approximately 12,000 years, according to the Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanology Program.
The volcano is located in the Afar region, about 800 kilometers northeast of the capital, Addis Ababa, near the border with Eritrea.
It lies within the Great Rift Valley, an area of significant geological upheaval caused by the collision of two tectonic plates and characterized by intense volcanic activity.
The Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanology Program reported that Haile Gobi had not erupted since the Holocene epoch, a period that began approximately 12,000 years ago at the end of the last Ice Age.
Volcanologist and University of Michigan professor Simon Karn confirmed via the Blue Sky platform that Haile Gobi "has not had an eruption during the Holocene epoch."
According to the Toulouse Volcanic Ash Monitoring Center, the approximately 500-meter-high Hale Gobi volcano erupted, spewing thick plumes of smoke that reached a height of 14 kilometers. The eruption lasted for several hours before subsiding.
The Toulouse Volcanic Ash Monitoring Center indicated that plumes of ash drifted over Yemen, Oman, India, and northern Pakistan.
A thick column of white smoke rising from the site was circulated on social media.
Authorities have not reported any casualties, but the volcano is located in a remote, sparsely populated area.