A volcano in northeast Ethiopia erupted for the first time in nearly 12,000 years, sending a massive plume of ash almost nine miles into the sky and disrupting flights across several countries. The Hayli Gubbi volcano sent ash clouds over Yemen, Oman, India and Pakistan, prompting widespread cancellations and operational delays, according to the Toulouse Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre (VAAC).
Global travel impact
Air India and Akasa Air confirmed to Reuters that they cancelled multiple flights Monday into Tuesday due to the ash cloud drifting across international airspace.
Air India said it had cancelled 11 flights both days to perform precautionary safety checks on aircraft that had flown over some areas of the eruption.
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There are 1,350 potentially active volcanoes worldwide. Most are located in the “Ring of Fire” around the Pacific Ocean, according to USGS.
Akasa Air reported it had cancelled some flights to Middle East locations, including Jeddah, Kuwait and Abud Dhabi over the two days.
Airport authorities said only a small number of flights needed to be rerouted, and that all affected passengers had been notified.
The ash cloud moved toward China on Tuesday and was expected to clear from the Indian skies later in the day.
Parts of northern India and Pakistan were already coated in ash earlier in the week.
No casualties reported, but livestock at risk
Local officials in Ethiopia say no injuries or deaths have been reported, but the eruption is creating serious challenges for livestock farmers in nearby villages.
“While no human lives and livestock have been lost so far, many villages have been covered in ash and as a result their animals have little to eat,” Mohammed Seid, a local administrator, told The Associated Press.
One resident described the eruption to the AP as feeling “like a sudden bomb had been thrown with smoke and ash.”
A historic eruption
The volcano sits in Ethiopia’s Afar region, an area prone to earthquakes.
The Smithsonian Institution Program says this is the first known eruption of Hayli Gubbi in about 12,000 years, per CBS News. Sim Carn, a volcanologist, confirmed that finding in a social media post.
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