A volcano that had been inactive for approximately 12,000 years has suddenly erupted, covering a village in ash and soot, leading residents to liken the eruption’s sound to a bomb detonation.
This eruption, the first in modern times for this particular volcano, unleashed thick ash clouds into the atmosphere, coating the nearby village of Afdera with a layer of dust.
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 released during the eruption dispersed beyond the country, reaching as far as the Red Sea, Yemen, Oman, and India.
Local resident Ahmed Abdela described the event as resembling a sudden bomb explosion with smoke and ash. While there have been no casualties among humans or livestock, numerous villages have been covered in ash, leaving their animals with limited food sources.
The volcanic eruption has caused significant disruptions to travel in neighboring countries and even across continents. Despite the impact on air travel, no flights have been canceled in Ethiopia, a major flight hub in Africa. However, as a precautionary measure, several airlines, including Air India, IndiGo, Akasa, and KLM, have canceled flights due to the volcanic ash.
Air India canceled 11 flights on Monday and Tuesday, while Akasa scrapped its flights to Jeddah, Kuwait, and Abu Dhabi scheduled for the same days.
According to Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, the director-general of the India Meteorological Department, the eruption affected altitudes between 8.5km and 15km above sea level, potentially disrupting satellite functions and flight operations. However, he reassured that the eruption’s impact is unlikely to affect weather patterns or air quality and mentioned its movement towards northern India and possibly China.
Skymet Weather, a private agency, expressed challenges in accurately measuring the level of volcanic ash contamination due to the eruption’s sudden nature, which hindered adequate preparation for monitoring its full extent.
GP Sharma, the president of meteorology and climate change at Skymet Weather, highlighted the complexity of measuring contamination caused by volcanic eruptions and emphasized the need for advanced preparation, which was lacking in this case.
Despite the uncertainty surrounding the ash dispersal timeline, Skymet Weather anticipates that Delhi’s skies will likely clear from the ash by Tuesday evening.