Historic Eruption of Ethiopia's Hayli Gubbi Volcano After 12,000 Years of Dormancy: Impacts and Eyewitness Accounts

Ahmed Abdela, a local resident of Ethiopia's Afar region, reported hearing an explosive sound when the Hayli Gubbi volcano erupted after thousands of years of dormancy.

The long-dormant volcano in Ethiopia's northeastern territory erupted for the first time in approximately 12,000 years, releasing massive plumes of ash and smoke reaching heights of 9 miles (14 km) into the atmosphere. These plumes traveled across the Red Sea toward Yemen and Oman. The eruption, which occurred Sunday morning, lasted several hours and left the nearby tourist destination of Afdera village completely blanketed in ash.

Describing the event, Afar resident Ahmed Abdela stated, "It felt like a sudden bomb had been thrown with smoke and ash," noting that he experienced both a loud sound and what seemed like a shock wave following the eruption.

By Monday, Afdera village remained ash-covered, with tourists and guides headed to the Danakil desert finding themselves stranded in the area, according to Abdela's account.

Local administrator Mohammed Seid confirmed there were no human casualties from the eruption, though he expressed concern about potential economic impacts on the local livestock herding community.

In conversation with The Associated Press, Seid mentioned there was no historical record of previous eruptions from the Hayli Gubbi volcano, raising serious concerns about 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 explained.

The volcanic ash clouds subsequently drifted over multiple countries including Yemen, Oman, India, and northern Pakistan, according to the Toulouse Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre (VAAC) in France, which monitored the eruption via satellite imagery. The volcano, standing approximately 500 meters in height, is situated within the geologically active Rift Valley where two tectonic plates converge.

Social media videos showed impressive columns of thick white smoke rising skyward, though these could not be independently verified by NDTV.

According to the Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanism Program, Hayli Gubbi has experienced no documented eruptions during the Holocene period, which began roughly 12,000 years ago following the conclusion of the last Ice Age.

Simon Carn, a volcanologist and professor at Michigan Technological University, confirmed on the social platform Bluesky that Hayli Gubbi "has no record of Holocene eruptions."