A volcano wakes up after 12,000 years of sleep
Dormant for more than 12,000 years, the Hayli Gubbi volcano erupted at dawn on Sunday, November 23, 2025, announced
Volcano Discoverya site specializing in the census of all active volcanoes in the world.
This volcano, located in the Afar region, northeast of Ethiopia, rises to more than 520 meters above sea level, and presents a symmetrical scoria cone with a crater 200 meters in diameter.
It is the southernmost volcano of the Erta Ale Range, a volcanic massif in the Danakil Depression, Ethiopia. This region, located at the meeting point of three tectonic plates, is known for its active lava lakes and shield volcanoes, so called because of their shape resembling “a shield placed on the ground”.
Smoke and ashes all the way to the Arabian Peninsula
According to residents living nearby, this region is often subject to earthquakes. At the time of the eruption, a resident told AP News he heard a loud noise, which he described as “a shock wave.”
The Hayli Gubbi volcano eruption sent plumes of ash to an altitude of 49,000 feet, or nearly 15 kilometers, according to the Toulouse Volcanic Ash Advisory Center.
Satellite images of the eruption show that ash and smoke have covered the nearby village of Afdera with dust, and are moving across the Red Sea, towards Yemen and Oman.
No human loss
Local authorities told AP News that the eruption of the millennia-extinct volcano did not cause any human or animal losses, although agriculture could be impacted.
“Although no human or animal losses have been reported so far, many villages have been covered in ashes and, as a result, their animals have little to eat,” Mohammed Seid, a local administrator, told the news agency.
A consequence which worries the local population, who see their main means of subsistence being threatened.
Although the Hayli Gubbi volcano eruption did not cause any deaths, the ash emitted during this geological phenomenon can be dangerous for the populations living around it, in particular causing respiratory problems or irritation of the eyes, nose or throat.
Source: AP News/ABC News
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