Authorities continue to monitor the situation to ensure the safety of aviation and coastal regions along the planned trajectory.
A satellite image shows ash rising from the eruption of Ethiopia’s Hayli Gubbi volcano as it drifts over the Red Sea. PHOTO: NASA/handout via REUTERS
The Pakistan Meteorological Department said no threats had been identified beyond aerial hazards following an ash cloud from a rare volcanic eruption in northeast Ethiopia, which drifted into southern Pakistan after passing over Yemen and Oman.
According to the Toulouse Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC), the cloud originated from the Hayli Gubbi volcano, which erupted on Sunday for the first time in nearly 12,000 years. The eruption sent huge plumes of smoke into the atmosphere, plunging large areas of the region into darkness.
In response, the PMD issued an aerial surveillance alert. Domestic flights, typically operating at around 35,000 feet, and international flights, flying between 40,000 and 45,000 feet, may experience engine hazards from the ash cloud. The authorities are actively monitoring his movements.
The VAAC reported that the ash plume reached extreme altitudes, affecting airspace over southern Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman and coastal areas of Pakistan. However, the PMD said Karachi is unlikely to see any direct impact. “Projections indicate that the ash will mainly drift over the depths of the Arabian Sea, Oman and the Mumbai flying region at around 50,000 feet,” a spokesperson said.
Earlier in the day, the cloud was detected 60 nautical miles south of Gwadar, triggering an active alert to relevant authorities. PMD spokesperson Anjum Nazeer Zaighum confirmed that the ash would stay far from the coast as it moved over the Arabian Sea.
BREAKING: Major eruption reported in Afar, Ethiopia 🌋
Urgent reports this morning are of a major volcanic explosion in the Afar region, either in Ali Bagu (Amaytole) or possibly in Erta Ale itself. Initial information suggests that the eruption could be located between… pic.twitter.com/ChwmyT9vDZ
– Volcaholic 🌋 (@volcaholic1) November 23, 2025
Eyewitnesses from the Afar region of Ethiopia described the eruption as extraordinarily powerful. A local resident said The Addis standard that the explosion occurred eight kilometers from the main mountain of the volcano. Distant television reported a “massive eruption”, noting that the force and noise of the explosion was louder than any previous events reported by residents. Reports indicate that the sound and effects were felt as far away as Djibouti, Tigray and towns in the Wollo region.
Flight tracking platform FlightRadar showed the projected path of the ash cloud at 3:31 a.m., heading towards the Arabian Peninsula and the Arabian Sea. Pakistan is directly in the path of the cloud, which is expected to arrive in about 18 hours. VAAC interactive mapping indicates that ash could pass over southern Sindh before drifting northeast into India.
The Hayli Gubbi volcano, located in Ethiopia’s Afar region, about 800 kilometers northeast of Addis Ababa near the Eritrean border, erupted for several hours. Rising about 500 meters, the volcano lies in the geologically active Rift Valley, where two tectonic plates meet.
The Smithsonian Institution’s Global Volcanism Program confirmed that Hayli Gubbi did not record any eruptions during the Holocene epoch, which began about 12,000 years ago. Volcanologist Simon Carn, a professor at Michigan Technological University, corroborated the finding, saying the volcano “has no record of Holocene eruptions.”
Authorities continue to closely monitor the ash cloud to ensure the safety of aviation and coastal regions along its projected path.
