Ethiopian Volcano Erupts For First Time In 10,000 Years 

A dormant volcano in Ethiopia’s Afar region, Hayli Gubbi, erupted on Sunday for the first time in thousands of years, blasting ash and smoke up to 9 miles into the atmosphere, disrupting air travel across the Red Sea toward Yemen and Oman.

Here we observe the ash plume from the first recorded volcanic eruption from Hayli Gubbi Volcano in Ethiopia in 10,000+ years! This is the northern end of the East African Rift Valley, a geologic spreading center driven by the Great African Superplume. pic.twitter.com/wksMnbfEI4

— Stefan Burns (@StefanBurnsGeo) November 23, 2025

Hayli Gubbi’s sudden awakening after roughly 10,000 to 12,000 years may suggest the Afar region and the broader tectonic system beneath East Africa are becoming more geologically active, with new magma moving beneath the crust.

For the first time in recorded history, Ethiopia’s Hayli-Gubbi volcano has erupted

A plume of ash rose 10–15 km into the sky and is moving toward the southwestern Arabian Peninsula, according to VolcanoDiscovery.

The awakening of Hayli-Gubbi is the first in observational… pic.twitter.com/GWrd8ljcec

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) November 24, 2025

On X, the American Geographical Society posted satellite imagery showing a massive ash and sulfur dioxide plume drifting across the Red Sea toward Yemen.

Hayli Gubbi Erupts
A long-dormant volcano in Ethiopia’s Afar region, Hayli Gubbi, erupted on Sunday for the first time in thousands of years, sending a massive ash and sulfur dioxide plume across the Red Sea toward Yemen…

Read more: https://t.co/dcYqGK3x9b#Hayli #volcano pic.twitter.com/6tMh2yQ1wF

— The American Geographical Society (@AmericanGeo) November 24, 2025

Flight-tracking website Flightradar24 showed that commercial aircraft in the region are avoiding the toxic plume.

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

Questions remain over whether nearby dormant volcanoes could also awaken and enter an active cycle.