Smoke and ash move across continents overnight
The long-dormant shield volcano, Hayli Gubbi, erupted on Nov. 23 in the Afar Region in Ethiopia. This is the first documented eruption of the volcano since the beginning of the Holocene epoch, which started at the end of the last ice age. The eruption sent smoke and ash approximately 14 km (46,000 ft) into the sky, and rose to 45 km (148,000 ft) as the eruption continued. The eruption started at around 8:30 a.m. local time and continued until 11 p.m. Fortunately, neither casualties nor lava were reported, but the ash has contaminated local grazing lands and water supplies.
Hayli Gubbi is a shield volcano, meaning it has broad slopes for lava flows. The volcano itself is 500 m above sea level with a central crater near 200 m wide. While there was no lava spotted during this eruption, it is built like most other volcanoes, with primarily lava eruptions.
The volcano is located in northeastern Ethiopia, near the border of Eritrea and close to the Red Sea. The ash plume travelled across the southern Arabian Peninsula to Pakistan and India in a matter of hours, and almost reached China. Affected countries responded by cancelling and rerouting many flights in affected areas due to low visibility and poor air quality.
The nearby Ethiopian village of Afdera has been affected the most. Smoke reduced visibility to near-darkness, leaving many tourists and guides stranded in hilly areas. The locals are concerned about their livestock and agricultural fields as everything has been covered in a layer of ash. Local water supplies have been contaminated as well. A local told the Associated Press the eruption “felt like a sudden bomb had been thrown with smoke and ash.” As of Wednesday, Nov. 26, the village was still covered in ash and many people, including those in other nearby villages, are concerned about how the air quality will affect them.
Professor Atalay Ayele of Addis Ababa University said this eruption was unusually noisy and had not triggered any significant seismic activity. Professor Juliet Biggs from the University of Bristol said “a big eruption column, like a big umbrella cloud, is really rare in this area”.
Professor Simon Carn, a volcanologist at Michigan Technological University, confirms this eruption released major amounts of sulphur dioxide. This is a main indication of magma being close to the surface during the time of the eruption. Increased amounts of sulphur dioxide can also lead to the formation of volcanic smog, which was very thick over the Afar region. These details make it very likely lava could be present if the volcano erupts again. Volcanic researchers will now be monitoring the area and volcano more closely via satellite.
Despite the lack of immediate casualties, residents of Afdera will see some economic problems with the lack of forage and water supplies for their livestock. Residents will also most likely experience health issues related to smoke inhalation in the near future.