Ethiopian volcano erupts after 12,000 years: What we know

A long-inactive volcano in northern Ethiopia unexpectedly erupted on Sunday, sending up plumes of volcanic ash and dust, which have since spread across continents and disrupted flights in India and the United Arab Emirates.

No casualties were reported in Ethiopia following the eruption, but local government officials told reporters they are concerned about the impact of the eruption on local communities and their livestock in the Afar region, where the volcano is located.

Ethiopia has 50 known volcanoes, according to the Smithsonian, several of which have been dormant for thousands of years.

The Ethiopian Rift Valley, where many of the volcanoes are located, extends from Afar southwards through neighbouring countries. It was formed by shifting tectonic plates, which pulled apart to form the land masses of Africa and Arabia, and is one of the most important geological sites in the world.

Here’s what we know about Sunday’s volcanic eruption and its local and international impact:

What happened?

Hayli Gubbi, which forms part of the Erta Ale volcano range in the northern Afar Region of Ethiopia, erupted at approximately 11:30am local time (08:30 GMT) according to an advisory issued by the Toulouse Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC) in France.

Following the eruption, residents told reporters they had noticed faint smoke from the volcano about three days before. However, there were no reported scientific forecasts for the eruption.

The volcano has not previously erupted in the current Holocene Era, which began about 12,000 years ago at the end of the Ice Age, according to the Smithsonian Institution’s Global Volcanism Program.

Satellite imagery shared on social media channels shows the eruption as viewed from space, with a mass of billowing ash shooting up and visibly spreading east towards the Red Sea. Footage captured from the ground also showed huge mountains of ash rising into the skies above the mountain range, blanketing the horizon.

VAAC reported that the massive waves of volcanic ash plumes emitted rose to about 45,000 metres (148,000 feet) in height at the time of the eruption, and that the ash moved primarily in a northwesterly direction.

Hayli Gubbi volcano in Ethiopia has erupted for the first time in thousands of years🌋

Satellite images from @CopernicusEU Sentinel-5P (left) and @eumetsat‘s Meteosat-12 (right) captured the ash plume spreading across the region. pic.twitter.com/ynG1zVAV3v

— ESA Earth Observation (@ESA_EO) November 24, 2025

How have local communities been affected?

Local media in Ethiopia have reported that plumes of ash blanketed the areas around the volcano, including hilly villages which are well-known tourist attraction sites. In the neighbouring village of Afdera, one resident told The Associated Press he had heard a loud sound as the eruption occurred.

“It felt like a sudden bomb had been thrown with smoke and ash,” Ahmed Abdela told The AP. He added that by Monday, the village was still covered in ash, and that tourists and guides heading to the nearby Danakil Desert were stranded.

Afar TV reported that vibrations and moderate tremors were felt in Ethiopia’s Wollo area, in the northern Tigray region, and as far away as in the neighbouring country of Djibouti.

In the immediate aftermath of the eruption, dark smoke, rather than white ash, enveloped the area, plunging it into near-darkness, residents said.

There are concerns about how the eruption has affected air quality in the nearby villages.

Local administrator Mohammed Seid also told The AP the eruption could have economic implications for the local community, where most are livestock herders and depend on forage – plants eaten by animals – for their livestock. Much of this is now covered with a thick layer of dust. “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 said.

What do we know about the Hayli Gubbi volcano?

Hayli Gubbi, a shield volcano – named so because it has a low profile and resembles a shield when viewed from above – is located about 800km (500 miles) northeast of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital city.

Hayli Gubbi, which rises to 500 metres (1,640 feet), is the southernmost volcano of the Erta Ale Range, a chain of low-lying shield volcanoes in the Afar region. It has had no known eruptions for 12,000 years.

Erte Ale volcano, one of Ethiopia’s most active, is also located within this range, which itself is set in the Rift Valley. Erte Ale, whose name means “smoking mountain” in Afar, last overflowed with lava in January 2023, according to The Smithsonian Institution’s Global Volcanism Program.

Where has the ash travelled and how have flights been affected?

Clouds of ash have travelled across the Red Sea, first over Yemen and Oman, and then on to Pakistan and India, according to monitoring website Flightradar24.

Volcanic ash clouds contain abrasive particles which can enter and damage aircraft engines, contaminate airfields, and reduce visibility, making flying hazardous.

Current (black) and forecasted (green +6hr , yellow +12, red +18) ash cloud observations from today’s eruption of Hayli Gubbi volcano in northern Ethiopia. pic.twitter.com/96vtwvLD20

— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) November 23, 2025

The eruption has, therefore, caused widespread travel disruption in neighbouring countries and continents, although there are so far no reports of flight delays in Ethiopia, which is one of Africa’s biggest flight hubs.

India

In India, the ash had reached the Western Rajasthan region by Monday evening and then moved northeast, according to local newspaper The Hindu.

The ash prompted several airlines, including national carrier Air India, IndiGo and Akasa, as well as Dutch carrier KLM, to cancel their flights as a precaution. Air India cancelled 11 flights on Monday and Tuesday while Akasa scrapped flights scheduled on the same day to Jeddah, Kuwait and Abu Dhabi, according to the Reuters news agency.

The country’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) issued advisories on Monday urging airlines to avoid affected altitudes and regions, and warning that volcanic ash could harm aircraft engines, according to The Hindu.

The agency also advised airlines to conduct precautionary checks on aircraft which had already flown over affected routes, and to report any suspected impact of ash on engine performance, or any smoke or odours in the cabin. Airports were also ordered to inspect runways for contamination.

The plumes have reportedly spread across the states of Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Delhi, Haryana, and Punjab. India is expected to have clear skies by 14:00 GMT on Tuesday as the ash cloud moves towards China, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

Pakistan

In Pakistan, the country’s meteorological service reported that the ash cloud was seen 60 nautical miles (111km) south of the port city of Gwadar on Monday, according to local newspaper Dawn.

Gulf

Air Arabia cancelled several flights from Sharjah, UAE, on Tuesday.

In Oman, the Environment Authority activated its emergency response to monitor the ash clouds but reported no immediate impact on air quality, according to Times of Oman.

When have volcanic eruptions caused travel chaos in the past?

Severe volcanic ash eruptions that lead to widespread disruptions like this one have been rare.

The last reported incident was in 2010, when the Eyjafjallajokull volcano in Iceland erupted continuously between March and June, sending plumes of volcanic ash over swaths of Scandinavia, the UK and other European countries. The eruption ejected ash up to 11km (seven miles) into the atmosphere. That ash had small, sharp particles of glacial debris because the eruption had occurred beneath glacial ice. 

In April that year, the UK was forced to close down its entire airspace for six days, during which time some 95,000 flights were cancelled. According to the Center for Economics and Business Research, the UK airline industry lost $1.45bn during the prolonged shutdown. Spain, Portugal, Italy, Austria and Germany were also forced to close airspace in May.

Air traffic across Europe during that period was severely restricted as many countries continued to intermittently close their airspace. About 1.2 million passengers were stranded each day during what was the largest air traffic shutdown since World War II.