On November 23, 2025, the Hayli Gubbi volcano in northern Ethiopia erupted in dramatic fashion. The shield volcano in the Danakil (or Afar) Depression began spewing ash and volcanic gases at around 11:30 a.m. local time (8:30 Universal Time) that day, marking its first documented explosive eruption. The plume reached into the upper troposphere and drifted northeast, eventually crossing over northern India and China and disrupting flights.
The MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) instrument on NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired the image above (right) of the eruption, about 4 hours after it was first detected. Other satellite data indicated the plume reached 15 kilometers (9 miles) above sea level and contained approximately 0.2 teragrams (220,000 tons) of sulfur dioxide, according to a Global Volcanism Program report. Another light-colored cloud, likely of pyroclastic material, is visible spreading to the north and appears to be on or close to the ground, the report stated. For comparison, the left image was acquired with the same sensor on November 15, before the eruption.
In this remote area of East Africa, tectonic plates are moving away from each other, which allows magma to rise to the surface and feed several active volcanoes. Due in part to Hayli Gubbi’s remote setting, geologists are unsure when Hayli Gubbi last erupted. Geologic evidence suggests it was within the past 8,000 years, though experts speculate it may have been within the past few centuries.
Hayli Gubbi lies about 12 kilometers (7 miles) south-southeast of Ethiopia’s most active volcano, Erta Ale, where a lava lake has roiled for decades. After Erta Ale’s most recent eruption in July 2025, scientists tracked the movement of magma beneath the surface using interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) measurements and other techniques. They found that ma …