After nearly 12,000 years of inactivity, a volcano in Ethiopia has erupted and showered ash on unsuspecting communities. Haili Gubbi, located in the Afar region of northeastern Ethiopia, is not thought to have erupted at all during the Holocene, an ongoing geological epoch that began 11,700 years ago.
The volcano erupted around 8:30 a.m. local time on Sunday, November 23, 2025, and explosive activity continued for several hours before stopping. Although local authorities reported no casualties, there are concerns about ash that has covered villages and begun to drift towards the Arabian Peninsula.
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The volcano has come out of hibernation
Haili Gubbi is the southernmost volcano of the Erta Ale ridge, a chain of predominantly shield volcanoes that lies above the East African Rift.
Erta Ale itself is the most active volcano in Ethiopia, erupting continuously since at least 1967, according to Oregon State University. Despite its unique features, including a lava lake in the summit crater, much is still unknown about Erta Ale. This is largely due to how inhospitable the surrounding terrain is, with scorching temperatures regularly exceeding 100 degrees Fahrenheit and little average rainfall.
On the other hand, Hailey Gubbi has not yet experienced any eruptions in recorded history. However, as with Erta Ale, information about the history of Haili Gubbi is limited due to its remote location and harsh conditions.
The recent eruption of Hailey Gubbi reportedly sent an ash plume to an altitude of about 45,000 feet. Toulouse's volcanic ash advisory center was the first to notice the event and warned that air travel could be affected by ash clouds drifting over Yemen, Oman, Pakistan and India. Observations of the eruption also showed that the volcano released a cloud of sulfur dioxide. Discovery of the volcano.
Volcanic history of East Africa
Khaili Gubbi is located in a region where volcanic activity has been observed since ancient times. According to the Geological Society, the volcano is a product of the East African Rift (EAR), a system about 4,000 miles long that originally formed during the Miocene epoch, about 25 million years ago.
The EAR likely formed as a result of heat flow causing the Earth's crust to stretch and collapse. This created a “horst and graben” topography, defined by alternating elevated (horst) and depressed (graben) crustal blocks. The result is a landscape of deep valleys and highlands throughout Ethiopia and Kenya.
VAR represents a divergent plate boundary where tectonic plates are currently diverging. Beneath the surface of East Africa, three plates move away from each other: the Arabian Plate and two parts of the African Plate, the Nubian and Somali plates. In the Afar region of Ethiopia, where Hailey Gubbi and other volcanoes are located, three plates intersect at what is known as a “triple junction.”
Volcanism is common along the VAR, where colossal mountains rise above the ground. It is home to Africa's highest peaks, including Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania and Mount Kenya. Mount Kilimanjaro, which last erupted about 360,000 years ago, is considered a dormant volcano. Mount Kenya is an extinct volcano that last erupted over 2 million years ago and has never erupted again.
Tectonic consequences
Volcanic eruptions may become a more common occurrence for Ethiopians in the future, given the tectonic activity occurring in East Africa. Ethiopia is believed to be home to about 50 volcanoes that were active during the Holocene. The only countries with more Holocene numbers volcanoes These are the United States (165), Japan (118), Russia (107), Indonesia (101) and Chile (90), according to the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History Global Volcanism Program.
More than 46 percent of Ethiopia's population lives within 100 km (62 miles) of the Holocene volcano and is exposed to volcanic hazards, according to the British Geological Survey. Ethiopia also experiences frequent earthquakes due to tectonic activity; From late 2024 to early 2025, several earthquake clusters—a series of small earthquakes in a specific area—occurred near the Fentale and Dofan volcanoes in Awash National Park in Ethiopia.
At the moment, the effects of the recent Khaili Gubbi eruption are still being studied, especially its impact on livestock and local shepherds suffering from ash falling from the sky.
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