Satellites capture aftermath of Ethiopian volcano’s 1st eruption in recorded history (images)

No deaths were reported from the eruption of Hayli Gubbi in Northern Ethiopia.

Satellite footage of the volanic eruption in Ethiopia, courtesy of Eumet View. (Image credit: ©EUMETSAT 2025)

Hayli Gubbi volcano in Northern Ethiopia erupted on Sunday (Nov. 23) for the first time in nearly 12,000 years, causing havoc in villages nearby. Satellite imagery detailed billowing plumes of pale ash stretching across the arid region.

Before Sunday, the volcano’s last known eruption roughly coincided with the beginning of our current Holocene Epoch, when the last ice age came to close after 2.6 million years.

No deaths have been reported from Hayli Gubbi’s eruption, but villages located in the remote district of Afdera became caked in ash, impacting both homes and livestock, AP reports.

Abedella Mussa, a health official for the Afdera district, told AP that mobile medicinal services were dispatched from the Afar region to help the kebeles (neighborhoods) impacted by the eruption.

The massive clouds of ash that erupted 8.7 miles (14 km) into the sky drifted to Pakistan and Northern India, causing flight cancellations for a few days during the week, and began moving toward China.

Atalay Ayele, a seismologist and researcher at the Institute of Geophysics, Space Science and Astronomy at Addis Ababa University, told Reuters that Ethiopia is home to about 50 active volcanoes.

“At any time, these volcanoes can be active or can show manifestations of activity,” Ayele said in the Reuters report.

Breaking space news, the latest updates on rocket launches, skywatching events and more!Contact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsorsBy submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

While there were no scientific forecasts for the event, locals told Al Jazeera reporters that they had noticed a little smoke coming from Hayli Gubbi in the days leading up to the eruption.

Hayli Gubbi’s eruption isn’t the first time Ethiopia has seen volcanic activity this year. Erta Ale volcano in the Afar region, known for decades of continuous volcanic activity that has created an ongoing lava lake, saw reports of a dense black cloud rising from the volcano in mid-July 2025.

Hayli Gubbi’s activity this week has reportedly ceased as of Friday (Nov. 28).

Julian Dossett

Julian Dossett is a freelance writer living in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He primarily covers the rocket industry and space exploration and, in addition to science writing, contributes travel stories to New Mexico Magazine. In 2022 and 2024, his travel writing earned IRMA Awards. Previously, he worked as a staff writer at CNET. He graduated from Texas State University in San Marcos in 2011 with a B.A. in philosophy. He owns a large collection of sci-fi pulp magazines from the 1960s.