‘It felt like a bomb’: Ethiopia volcano eruption leaves villages under ash | World News

In this photo released the Afar Government Communication Bureau, people watch ash billow from an eruption of the long-dormant Hayli Gubbi Volcano in Ethiopia’s Afar region, Sunday, Nov. 23, 2025. (Afar Government Communication Bureau via AP)

A long-quiet volcano in northern Ethiopia erupted over the weekend, sending ash across the Red Sea toward Yemen and Oman. The Hayli Gubbi volcano in the Afar region erupted Sunday morning. The near village of Afdera was left under a layer of ash, local adminrator Mohammed Seid told Associated Press (AP).

Seid said there were no injuries, but people who depend on livestock were worried about their future.

“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,” he told AP.

He also said there was no known record of the volcano erupting before.

‘It felt like a bomb’

The Afar region often experiences earthquakes, and one resident said the sound of the eruption was sudden and strong. Ahmed Abdela told AP he heard a loud noise and felt what he described as a shock wave. “It felt like a sudden bomb had been thrown with smoke and ash,” he said.

Abdela said the village near the Danakil desert was still covered in ash on Monday. Tours and guides travelling to the desert were stranded in the village, he added.

The Toulouse Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre in France confirmed the eruption after observing it on satellite images. Local authorities also shared photos and videos showing ash rising high from the volcano.