A long-dormant volcano has just erupted for the first time in recorded history.

The Hayli Gubbi volcano in northern Ethiopia’s Afar Region erupted for the first time in at least 12,000 years early Sunday morning local time, according to Volcano Discovery, a website that tracks active volcanoes around the world.

The eruption spewed large plumes of ash and smoke over Ethiopia and across the Red Sea toward the Arabian Peninsula. Large amounts of sulfur dioxide were also emitted.

Satellite images appear to show a massive cloud of ash moving over the Red Sea.

Animation showing NASA Aqua and Suomi and NOAA-20 images of the November 23, 2025 eruption of Hayli Gubbi in Ethiopia. Credit: NASA, NOAA (combined by me).

The Volcanic Ash Advisory Center in Toulouse, France, released an advisory to planes flying in the region, indicating that ash had reached altitudes of 49,000 feet.

Air traffic controllers as far as India were bracing for possible flight disruptions as a result of the drifting ash cover, according to reports.

There were no casualties as a result of the eruption, local officials told The Associated Press. But the livelihoods of nearby communities of livestock herders could be impacted because many villages have been covered in ash, leaving little land for the animals to graze on.

The volcano, located near the Eritrean–Ethiopian border, continued erupting as of Monday evening local time, but has since stopped, according to the Volcanic Ash Advisory Center.

Images showed towering plumes of ash emerging from the volcano’s summit.

Hayli Gubbi, a broad, dome-shaped volcano with gentle slopes, has a summit height of more than 1,700 feet. It features a symmetrical scoria cone with a 650-foot-wide crater.

It is the southernmost volcano in the Erta Ale range, a volcanic chain in Ethiopia’s Danakil Depression, located where three tectonic plates meet. The Erta Ale range is known for its persistent lava lakes and is primarily made up of shield volcanoes.