Ethiopian volcano erupts after lying dormant for 12,000 years

No casualties reported, section nonmigratory of Afar portion says interaction of eruption ‘felt similar a abrupt weaponry had been thrown’.

A long-dormant volcano successful bluish Ethiopia has erupted, sending plumes of ash crossed the Red Sea toward Yemen and Oman.

The Hayli Gubbi volcano successful the Afar portion of Ethiopia, located astir 800 kilometres (500 miles) northeast of Addis Ababa, erupted for respective hours connected Sunday morning, leaving the adjacent colony of Afdera covered successful dust.

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There were nary casualties from the eruption, which sent heavy plumes of fume up to 14 kilometres (nine miles) into the sky, sending ash clouds to Yemen, Oman, India, and bluish Pakistan, according to the Toulouse Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre (VAAC) successful France.

Ahmed Abdela, a section nonmigratory of the Afar region, said it “felt similar a abrupt weaponry had been thrown”. Many radical who had been heading to the Danakil desert, a section tourer attraction, were near stranded successful ash-covered Afdera connected Monday, helium said.

Mohammed Seid, a section administrator, said determination were nary casualties, but the eruption could person economical implications for the section assemblage of livestock herders.

The Hayli Gubbi volcano erupted for the archetypal clip successful 12,000 years spewing ash clouds successful Afar portion successful Ethiopia [Afar Government Communication Bureau – Anadolu Agency]

“While nary quality lives and livestock person been mislaid truthful far, galore villages person been covered successful ash and arsenic a effect their animals person small to eat,” helium said.

The volcano, which rises astir 500 metres successful altitude, sits wrong the Rift Valley, a portion of aggravated geological enactment wherever 2 tectonic plates meet.

The Smithsonian Institution’s Global Volcanism Program said Hayli Gubbi has had nary known eruptions during the existent geological epoch, which experts cognize arsenic the Holocene.

The Holocene began astir 12,000 years agone astatine the extremity of the past Ice Age.

Afar authorities person not yet reported casualties.