A volcano in Ethiopia’s Afar region has erupted, sending thick plumes of smoke up to 14 km into the sky and across the Red Sea toward Yemen and Oman.

The Hayli Gubbi volcano, located in the Afar region about 500 miles north-east of Addis Ababa, erupted on Sunday for several hours. No human casualties have been reported so far, as the volcano lies in a remote and sparsely populated area. However, videos shared on social media from nearby villages showed residents screaming as a massive cloud of ash swept over their homes. The eruption could still have serious economic consequences for the local community, which depends heavily on livestock herding. The volcano, which rises about 500 metres in altitude, sits within the Rift Valley, a zone of intense geological activity where two tectonic plates meet. The volcanic eruption was so strong that an earthquake was also reported in the Afdera area, adding to concerns about rising seismic activity across the region. Tremors were felt as far away as Logia, Chifra, Marsa, Kono, and Alamata.

At least ten residents suffered burn injuries in the Afdera area, an official told Ethiopia Observer. Local authorities and emergency workers assessing the extent of the damage have deployed first aid teams to treat people suffering from burns.

The Afar region is prone to earthquakes and a resident, Ahmed Abdela, said he heard a loud sound and what he described as a shock wave. “It felt like a sudden bomb had been thrown with smoke and ash,” he said.

In videos shared on social media, a thick column of white smoke could be seen rising. The Smithsonian Institution’s Global Volcanism Program said Hayli Gubbi has had no known eruptions during the Holocene, which began about 12,000 years ago at the end of the last ice age. Simon Carn, a volcanologist and professor at the Michigan Technological University, confirmed on Bluesky that Hayli Gubbi “has no record of Holocene eruptions”.