The rate of spewing of ash and smoke from northern Ethiopia’s long-dormant Haile Gubbi volcano slowed on Tuesday. The officers provided this information. However, he acknowledged that the weekend eruption had caused massive destruction in nearby villages and the ash plume had disrupted high-altitude flight paths, leading to cancellation of flights.
Officials said villages in the Afdera district of the Afar region were covered in ash. The residents there are facing problems in breathing and the grass and water of the animals are completely covered with ash.
Atalay Ayele, a geologist at Addis Ababa University, said such eruptions occur because Ethiopia is located along an active ‘rift system’ where volcanoes and earthquakes are frequent. “This is the first recorded eruption of Heli Gubbi in the last 10,000 years,” he said.