A long-inactive volcano has erupted after approximately 12,000 years, covering a village with ash and soot, leading residents to compare the sound of the eruption to an explosion.
This volcanic eruption, the first in modern history for this particular volcano, released large amounts of ash into the sky, dusting the nearby village of Afdera.
The Hayli Gubbi volcano, situated in Ethiopia near the Eritrean border in the Afar region, erupted for several hours on a Sunday morning. The ash clouds from the eruption spread beyond the country’s borders, reaching as far as the Red Sea, Yemen, Oman, and India.
Local resident Ahmed Abdela described the eruption as akin to a sudden bomb blast with smoke and ash. While there have been no reported human or livestock casualties, numerous villages have been covered in ash, resulting in a shortage of food for their animals.
The eruption has caused significant travel disruptions in neighboring countries and continents. Despite no flight cancellations in Ethiopia, a key flight hub in Africa, several airlines such as Air India, IndiGo, Akasa, and KLM have canceled flights as a precautionary measure due to the volcanic ash.
Air India canceled 11 flights on Monday and Tuesday, while Akasa dropped flights to Jeddah, Kuwait, and Abu Dhabi on the same day.
Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, director general of the India Meteorological Department, informed the BBC that the volcanic ash affected altitudes between 8.5km and 15km above sea level. He noted temporary disruptions to satellite functions and flight operations but anticipated no impact on weather conditions or air quality. The ash cloud reached northern India and appeared to be moving towards China.
Skymet Weather, a private agency, highlighted the challenge in accurately measuring the extent of volcanic ash contamination due to the sudden eruption of the Hayli Gubbi volcano, which did not allow for adequate preparation for monitoring.
GP Sharma, president of meteorology and climate change at Skymet Weather, emphasized the need for advance preparation to measure contamination caused by volcanic eruptions, which was lacking in this case, leading to uncertainties about the level of contamination.
Predicting the duration for the ash to disperse is challenging, as per Skymet Weather. However, the IMD anticipates that Delhi’s skies will clear of ash by Tuesday evening.