Eruption halts at Ethiopia’s Hayli Gubbi volcano after 1st activity in thousands of years

Eruption halts at Ethiopia’s Hayli Gubbi volcano after 1st activity in thousands of years
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The Hayli Gubbi volcano, the southernmost in the Mount Erta Ale range in Ethiopia’s northeastern Afar region, ceased erupting after its first activity in thousands of years, Anadolu Agency reported.

The blast on Sunday around 10 am local time (1300GMT) was unusually strong in size and sound, described as one of the most powerful eruptions in recent years, state broadcaster Fana reported, citing eyewitnesses.

It sent a massive ash column drifting over nearby communities, heightening concern among residents.

According to the Toulouse Volcanic Ash Advisory Center, the eruption stopped, but an ash cloud has been drifting over Yemen, Oman, India, and China.

The Smithsonian Institution says its Global Volcanism Program has no record of Hayli Gubbi erupting in the past 12,000 years, though earlier large eruptions may be listed in the LaMEVE database, part of the Volcano Global Risk Identification and Analysis Project.

Erta Ale, an active volcanic zone in northern Ethiopia, includes several volcanoes such as Hayli Gubbi. An eruption was recorded at Dalaffilla in 2008, and other activity, including lava floods, occurred in 2005, 2007, and between 2017 and 2020.