The Hayli Gubbi volcano erupted for the first time in almost 10,000 to 12,000 years in Ethiopia’s Hayli Gubbi region on 23 November 2025. This eruption was a wide change in geological events. This shield volcano, long dormant and hidden in the remote Afar region, sent huge ash clouds high into the sky, capturing global attention.
Image credit – pixabay.com
Table of Contents
Where Is Hayli Gubbi Volcano—and Why It Matters
- Hayli Gubbi is in the Afar Region of northeastern Ethiopia, in the Erta Ale Range. This is a tectonically active part of the East African Rift System.
- This area is known for being scorching, with few people living there. It has huge salt flats, lava fields, and rough terrain. Hayli Gubbi is about 493 meters (1,617 feet) high, which is not very high for a stratovolcano. However, its geological setting makes it crucial.
- It is also the southernmost volcano in the Erta Ale Range. Because the area is in a rift zone where tectonic plates are pulling apart, magma is always being made. This means that these volcanoes could be active even after a long time of being quiet.
The 2025 Hayli Gubbi Volcano Eruption: What Happened
- On the morning of November 23, 2025, at around 08:30 UTC, satellites detected a powerful explosive eruption emerging from the Hayli Gubbi volcano The Toulouse Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC) confirmed the event, showing a huge plume of ash rising to 45,000 feet (about 13–14 km).
- Not only was the plume tall, but it also spread out: high-altitude winds carried ash across the Red Sea, over Yemen, Oman, and even parts of India. Some reports said that sulfur dioxide (SO₂) was also released, which made people worry about the quality of the air in areas downwind.
- The VAAC said that the explosive phase had ended by around 20:00 UTC, but ash and gas were probably still spreading.
A Hayli Gubbi Volcano Like No Other: Geological Profile
Type and Structure
- Volcano Type: Hayli Gubbi is a shield volcano, which means that it usually makes wide, gently sloping landforms out of lava that flows easily.
- Morphology: At the top of the mountain is a graben, which is a type of tectonic depression. Inside the graben is a scoria cone with a crater that is 200 meters wide.
- Lava Characteristics: The volcano has erupted basalts and picro-basalts, but there is also proof of more advanced rock types like trachyte, trachydacite, and rhyolite.
Tectonic Context
Hayli Gubbi is in a rift zone, where the Earth’s crust is being pulled apart. This makes the crust thinner, and magma flows into the area more often. The crust below this area is about 15–25 km thick, which affects the melting processes that make magma.
Dormant No More: Why This Hayli Gubbi Volcano Eruption Is Historic
- The fact that this eruption has been dormant for so long is what makes it so special. The Smithsonian Institution’s Global Volcanism Program says that Hayli Gubbi did not have any confirmed eruptions during the Holocene epoch, which started about 11,700 years ago.
- Scientists are calling this a once-in-a-few-millennia event, which shows how little research has been done in the area. Earth scientists say that a volcano isn’t necessarily extinct just because it hasn’t erupted in thousands of years. Even volcanoes that have been dormant for a long time can become active again if magma processes continue.
- Juliet Biggs, a geoscientist at the University of Bristol, said that even though there was no evidence of previous eruptions on the surface, the height of the ash column suggests that there may have been large magma expulsions before that were not recorded.
Hayli Gubbi Volcano Impact: Local, Regional, and Global
Local Impact in Afar
- Community Effects: The ash blanket covered the village of Afdera nearby. Local pastoralists (people who raise livestock) are worried because the ash has covered their grazing land, making it hard for animals to eat.
- No Confirmed Casualties: There have been no deaths or serious injuries, according to the most recent reports.
- Economic Strain: The ashfall could have serious economic effects on communities that depend on livestock, even if no one dies.
Aviation & Air Quality
- Flight Disruptions: The ash plume made many people worried about flying. Authorities put out warnings for planes, and some flight paths, especially those over the Red Sea area, were changed or put on hold for a short time.
- Air Quality Risks: Fine ash particles and SO₂ emissions can be hazardous for your health in the short term, especially for people who live downwind.
Image credit – pixabay.com
Transcontinental Reach
- The plume spread very far; ash was seen in Yemen, Oman, and parts of South Asia, like India and Pakistan.
- The ash spread over a long distance shows that volcanoes can have effects all over the world, not just in their own area.
What caused the Hayli Gubbi Volcano to be dormant for so long, and why is it awakening now?
Researchers are attempting to determine why Hayli Gubbi felt “silent” for so long and what caused it to awaken. Because the Afar region is understudied, there’s limited ground data; much of what we know is coming from satellite monitoring. Here are some factors that may have contributed to this effect:
1. Constant Magma Supply: The rift zone below may still be sending magma to Hayli Gubbi, even though there has been peace for thousands of years.
2. Tectonic Stress: The East African Rift is slowly coming apart. This stretching creates cracks, dikes, and pathways for magma to flow.
3. Not enough monitoring: Scientists haven’t been able to keep an eye on it for long periods of time because it’s hard to get to the area and keep an eye on it. This makes it more likely that eruptions will happen without warning. Juliet Biggs said that Hayli Gubbi may have had eruptions in the past, but there is no modern geological record of them.
Lessons Learned & Looking Forward
Scientific Significance
- It shows that we need to do more research in volcanic areas that are hard to get to. Scientists might miss important signs of unrest if they don’t have better monitoring systems like seismic stations, gas sensors, and satellite surveillance.
- The event may prompt re-evaluation of hazard assessments for the East African Rift’s volcanic systems.
Preparedness & Risk
- Local governments need to look at the long-term risks for pastoral communities. Ash fallout hurts both human health and the productivity of livestock.
- Aviation agencies need to stay on their toes. Volcanic ash can do a lot of damage to airplane engines, and plumes that cross borders can quickly reach global flight paths.
- Ash from these kinds of eruptions doesn’t care about national borders, so countries may need to work together.
Environmental Impact
- Volcanic ash deposits can help soils in the long run, but in the short term, they are a problem because they cover plants, pollute water sources, and make the air quality worse.
- Gas emissions, such as SO₂, can cause acid rain and pollution in the air in certain areas, which can harm ecosystems that are downstream.
Why the Hayli Gubbi Volcano Eruption Is a Big Deal
- Scale of Dormancy: A volcano that hasn’t erupted in over ten thousand years doesn’t just “wake up” all the time. This event doesn’t happen very often in science.
- Aviation Risk: The ash cloud spread over a large area, which made people worry about flight safety in many places.
- Made people more aware of the volcanic risk in Africa: Even though volcanic eruptions are often linked to famous peaks like Mount Etna or Vesuvius, this shows that even little-known and faraway volcanoes can be very dangerous.
- Understanding Rift Dynamics: The East African Rift is one of the most tectonically active places on Earth. This eruption gives us important information about how rift volcanism changes over time and how magma systems work when they are dormant for a long time.
Final Thoughts
- The Hayli Gubbi Volcano eruption in November 2025 is a strong reminder of how unstable the Earth is. A volcano that has been sleeping for a long time, maybe even longer than humans have been around, is now sending up a plume that reaches across continents. The immediate cost to people seems small, but the bigger effects are huge: for science, for the area, and for air travel around the world.
- The event calls into question what we thought we knew about volcanoes that are not active and shows how important it is to have better monitoring systems, especially in places that haven’t been studied enough. It also shows how geological forces far below the surface can suddenly change life thousands of miles away in a very clear way.
- The world will be watching as scientists keep looking at satellite data and maybe plan field missions. The eruption of Hayli Gubbi may have happened only once, but it has big effects.
