How frequent are earthquakes in or near Africa and the Red Sea?

Africa and the Red Sea has a moderate level of seismic activity. Based on data from the past 25 years and our earthquake archive back to 1900, there are about 6,100 quakes on average per year in or near Africa and the Red Sea. However, Africa and the Red Sea has had at least 8 quakes above magnitude 7 since 1900, which suggests that larger earthquakes of this size occur infrequently, probably on average approximately every 15 to 20 years.

How many earthquakes occur every year in or near Africa and the Red Sea?

On average, Africa and the Red Sea has about 1,000 quakes of magnitude 3 or higher per year (Mag 4+: 388 quakes per year, Mag 5+: 42 quakes per year, Mag 6+: 2.2 quakes per year).

Volcanoes of Africa and the Red Sea (427)

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Algeria (7 volcanoes)

Cameroon (6 volcanoes)

Chad (6 volcanoes)

Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) (6 volcanoes)

Djibouti (2 volcanoes)

Ardoukôba | Babba'Olou

Equatorial Guinea (3 volcanoes)

San Carlos | San Joaquin | Santa Isabel

Eritrea (8 volcanoes)

Ethiopia (77 volcanoes)

Kenya (31 volcanoes)

Libya (3 volcanoes)

Haruj | Wau-en-Namus | Waw an Namous

Morocco (7 volcanoes)

Nigeria (2 volcanoes)

Biu Plateau | Jos Plateau

Rwanda (1 volcano)

Sabinyo

São Tomé and Príncipe (1 volcano)

Sao Tome

Saudi Arabia (14 volcanoes)

Senegal (1 volcano)

Cap-Vert

Sudan (5 volcanoes)

Bayuda Volcanic Field | Jebel Marra | Jebel Umm Arafieb | Kutum Volcanic Field | Meidob Volcanic Field

Tanzania (23 volcanoes)

Uganda (9 volcanoes)

Yemen (11 volcanoes)

Significant volcanic eruptions: Africa and the Red Sea

In historic times, at least 31 volcanoes have been active in Africa and the Red Sea, including Nyamuragira, Ol Doinyo Lengai, and Jebel Zubair volcanoes. A total of 157 eruptions have been witnessed and documented since around 450 BC.
The table below lists the most recent volcanic eruptions, significant eruptive episodes or related events in Africa and the Red Sea since around 2000.

Date	Volcano	VEI	Region	Deaths	Damage
2018 Apr 18 - ongoing	Nyamuragira Summit caldera	0	DRCongo
2002 May 17 ? - ongoing	Nyiragongo	2	DRCongo
1967 or before - ongoing	Erta Ale	0	Danakil depression, Ethiopia
2017 Apr 9 - ongoing	Ol Doinyo Lengai North Crater	0	Tanzania
2021 May 22 (eruption 2002 May 17 ? - ongoing)	Nyiragongo	2	DRCongo	32	heavy	Info
2021 May 22: Initial reports on 23 May 2021 reported 15 fatalities that included deaths from road accidents during an evacuation of Goma and its surroundings, and include four deaths that happened during an attempted prisoner escape at Munzenze. Two of the dead were overcome by fire and lava that coursed into some 17 villages but stopped short of the border city of Goma. According to Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) estimates, six-hundred homes around Goma had been destroyed and five schools flattened. (Reference #12942, Reference #12943) On 26 May 2021, the death toll was increased to 32 with at least 2,500 homes destroyed by sudden lava flows. (Reference #12945) While 32 persons are feared dead, at least 400,000 people are currently internally displaced in DRC while 7,000 persons have fled to Rwanda as refugees. Five schools and several health infrastructure were destroyed by the lava. It is reported that at least 5,000 households have lost their homes and property. (Reference #12962) Cited references #2432 Venzke, E., R.W. Wunderman, L. McClelland, T. Simkin, J.F. Luhr, L. Siebert, and G. Mayberry (eds.) (2002-): Global Volcanism, 1968 to the Present. Smithsonian Institution, Global Volcanism Program Digital Information Series, GVP-4 (http://www.volcano.si.edu/reports/). #10953 Siebert, Lee, Tom Simkin, Paul Kimberly (2010): Volcanoes of the World, Third Edition, Geoscience Press, Inc., University of California Press, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., 551 p. #12942 Africa Times (2021): At least 15 dead after Mount Nyiragongo volcano eruption. Published 23 May 2021. Updated at 11:47am. Link #12943 CNN (2021): 8,000 people cross from the Democratic Republic of Congo into Rwanda following volcano eruption. Published 24 May 2021. Link #12945 Africa Times (2021): DRC volcano toll reaches 32, quakes shake neighboring Rwanda. Published 26 May 2021. Updated at 12:39pm. Link #12962 ACT Alliance (2021): Rapid Response Fund: Response to volcano eruption in Goma. No. 9. Link Source: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), Global Significant Earthquake Database. doi:10.7289/V5TD9V7K
2016 Nov 27 - 2017 May 2	Nyamuragira Summit crater	0	DRCongo
2016 Sep 21 or before - Oct 13 or later	Ol Doinyo Lengai North Crater	0	Tanzania
2014 Jun 22 - 2016 May 14	Nyamuragira Summit crater	0	DRCongo
2015 Jun 20 or before - Aug 24 or later	Ol Doinyo Lengai North Crater	0	Tanzania
2011 or before - 2014 Jul 15 ±10 d.	Ol Doinyo Lengai North Crater	0	Tanzania
2013 Sep 28 - Nov 20	Jebel Zubair Jadid Island	2	Yemen
2011 Jun 13 - 2012 Jun 3 ?	Nabro Summit crater and NW flank	4	Eritrea
2011 Nov 6 - 2012 Mar 16 ?	Nyamuragira NW flank	2	DRCongo
2011 Dec 18 - 2012 Jan 12	Jebel Zubair Sholan Island	2	Yemen
2011 Jan 4 ±3 d.	Dallol Dallol crater	0	Danakil desert, Ethiopia
2007 Jun 16 ±15 d. - 2010 Oct 9 ±1 d.	Ol Doinyo Lengai North Crater	3	Tanzania
2010 Jan 2 - Jan 29	Nyamuragira Summit caldera and SSE flank	1?	DRCongo
2009 Jun 28 - Jul 1 ?	Manda Hararo	2?	Danakil depression, Ethiopia
2008 Nov 3 - Dec 16 ±15 d.	Dalafilla W and NW of Dalaffilla	3?	Erta Ale range (Danakil
2007 Sep 30 - 2008 Jun 16 ±15 d.	Jebel al-Tair	3?	Yemen
2007 Sep 30	Jebel al-Tair	0	Yemen	7		Info
A volcano erupted on a Yemeni Red Sea island late on Sunday, September 30, 2007, killing at least seven soldiers and spewing lava and ash hundreds of meters into the air. A government official said seven bodies had been recovered, along with one survivor, all soldiers stationed on Jabal al-Tair island, some 80 miles (130 km) off Yemen's mainland. A Defense Ministry official on the island, which has been home to a military base since Yemen's 1996 conflict with Eritrea, said its western part had "collapsed" into the sea. Naval ships were searching the surrounding waters for missing soldiers. The island has no civilian inhabitants. Two weeks prior to the eruption, the area around the island had seen light earthquakes between magnitude 2-3.6 on the Richter scale, with three larger ones yesterday reaching magnitude 4.3. Cited references #3454 Reuters (2007): Reuters AlertNet Article retrieved October 1, 2007 from http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L01042408.htm #3455 National Association of Radio-Distress Signaling and Infocommunications, Havaria Emergency and Disaster and Information Service (2007): National Association of Radio-Distress Signaling and Infocommunications (RSOE), Havaria Emergency and Disaster Information Services (EDIS), Budapest, Hungary retrieved October 1, 2007 from http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/woalert_read.php?cid=13576〈=eng Source: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), Global Significant Earthquake Database. doi:10.7289/V5TD9V7K
2007 Aug 12 - Aug 14 ?	Manda Hararo	2	Danakil depression, Ethiopia
2006 Nov 27 - Dec 5 ?	Nyamuragira South flank	2	DRCongo
1994 Sep 18 - 2006 Jul 16 ±15 d.	Ol Doinyo Lengai North Crater	1	Tanzania
2005 Sep 26 - Sep 29	Dabbahu NE flank (Da'Ure)	3?	Ethiopia
2004 May 8 - May 28 ±3 d.	Nyamuragira Summit and NNW flank	2?	DRCongo
2002 Jul 25 - Sep 16 ±15 d.	Nyamuragira Summit caldera, north & south flanks	2?	DRCongo
2002 Jan 17 - Feb 3 or later	Nyiragongo South flank (2800-1570 m), summit crater	1	DRCongo
2002 Jan 17 (eruption 2002 Jan 17 - Feb 3 or later)	Nyiragongo	1	DRCongo	100	heavy	Info
2002 Jan 17: A major eruption began on January 17, 2002. The eruption caused lava flows that moved directly into the city of Goma and continued to Lake Kivu. Reports indicate that flows destroyed 25-75% of the city, including 10,000 homes. Approximately 45 people died as a direct result of the burning of homes. An additional 50-100 people were said to have died when hot lava caused a gas station to explode on January 21. Press accounts indicated that volcanologists tentatively suggested that Nyiragongo's volcanism was due to seismicity producing fissures up to several km in length along the E African rift, allowing magma to reach the surface. Cited references #2432 Venzke, E., R.W. Wunderman, L. McClelland, T. Simkin, J.F. Luhr, L. Siebert, and G. Mayberry (eds.) (2002-): Global Volcanism, 1968 to the Present. Smithsonian Institution, Global Volcanism Program Digital Information Series, GVP-4 (http://www.volcano.si.edu/reports/). Source: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), Global Significant Earthquake Database. doi:10.7289/V5TD9V7K
2001 Feb 6 - Apr 5 ±4 d.	Nyamuragira North and SSE flanks	2?	DRCongo
2000 May 28 - Sep 15 ±5 d.	Cameroon Upper SW flank (4000, 3470-3220, 2750 m)	2?	Cameroon
2000 Jan 27 - Feb 10 or later	Nyamuragira SE flank (Ngerageze)	2?	DRCongo

Remark:

Our list of volcanic eruptions closely follows the database of eruptions of the Smithsonian's Global Volcanism Project (GVP), the internationally most recognized data source for volcanic eruptions, but also includes significant eruptive episodes or related volcano events. "Volcanic eruptions" are usually to be understood as sequences of individual eruptive episodes that can follow each other, or even overlap (if several vents are involved), and can last many years, decades or even longer. For example, the current activity of Stromboli volcano is understood as a single eruption that has been ongoing since 1934.

Sources: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), Global Significant Volcanic Eruptions Database. doi:10.7289/V5TD9V7K | Global Volcanism Project / Smithsonian Institution

Africa and the Red Sea FAQ

+When was the last volcanic eruption in Africa and the Red Sea?

The last volcanic eruption in Africa and the Red Sea was from Nyamuragira volcano. It began in 2018 and is continuing (as of May 2025).

+When was the first documented volcanic eruption in Africa and the Red Sea?

The first historically documented eruption occurred around 450 BC from Cameroon volcano.

+How often do volcanoes in Africa and the Red Sea erupt?

Since 450 BC, Africa and the Red Sea has seen at least 157 historically documented eruptions. This means that a volcano erupts on average every 15.8 years.

+How active are the volcanoes in Africa and the Red Sea?

Africa and the Red Sea is volcanically extremely active: Since 1900, at least 19 volcanoes in Africa and the Red Sea have been active. Every year, at least one volcano has been in eruption in Africa and the Red Sea. The latest eruption from Nyamuragira volcano volcano is still continuing at present.

+When was the largest volcanic eruption in Africa and the Red Sea?

The largest eruption in Africa and the Red Sea in historic times was from Nabro volcano. It occurred during 2011 - 2012. It ranks as a sub-plinian eruption with a magnitude 4 on the VEI (Volcanic Explosivity Index) scale.

Latest earthquakes: Africa and the Red Sea

In the past 7 days, Africa and the Red Sea was shaken by 1 quake of magnitude 5.0, 2 quakes between 4.0 and 5.0, 6 quakes between 3.0 and 4.0, and 23 quakes between 2.0 and 3.0. There were also 42 quakes below magnitude 2.0 which people don't normally feel.

A Magnitude 3.1 earthquake occurred in South Africa .

Magnitude 3.1 Earthquake South Africa -

Date and Time	Mag / Depth	Nearest Volcano / Location
May 21, 05:38 pm (GMT +2)	3.1 10 km	2001 km (1243 mi) SW of Itasy Volcanic Field	South Africa I FELT IT	Info
Monday, May 19, 2025 GMT (2 quakes)
May 19, 04:41 pm (GMT +1)	3.2 37 km	27 km (17 mi) NW of El Hierro	W Frontera.Ihi I FELT IT	Info
May 19, 02:01 pm (GMT +0)	5.0 10 km	169 km (105 mi) NE of Ascensión	172 km ENE of Georgetown, Saint Helena I FELT IT	Info
Sunday, May 18, 2025 GMT (1 quake)
May 18, 08:56 pm (GMT +3)	4.4 10 km	229 km (142 mi) W of La Grille	119 km ESE of Madimba, Tanzania I FELT IT	Info
Saturday, May 17, 2025 GMT (1 quake)
May 18, 02:58 am (Tehran)	3.4 8 km	407 km (253 mi) SW of Damavand	Western Iran I FELT IT	Info
Friday, May 16, 2025 GMT (1 quake)
May 16, 03:53 am (Dar es Salaam)	4.7 10 km	6 km (3.7 mi) NE of Izumbwe-Mpoli	3 km NW of Mbeya, Tanzania I FELT IT - 5 reports	Info

See Recent Quakes

Volcanoes in Africa

Adapted from: Simpkin and Siebert, 1994, Volcanoes of the World:
Africa is the only region other than the Mediterranean with an historically dated B.C. eruption (at Mount Cameroon, observed by a passing Carthaginian navigator in the 5th century B.C.). By the 15th centuray A.D., however, when Portuguese exploration of Africa had begun and Vasco de Gama sailed to India via the Cape of Good Hope, only 2 more eruptions had been recorded, both from Ethiopia. In the next 3 and two-thirds centuries, another 20 some eruptions were recorded, but the main historical record of the continent began with the opening of the Suez Canal at the end of 1869, and the heyday of African exploration that followed.
Most African volcanoes result from hotspots, the rifting in East Africa, or a combination of the two. The East African rift, one of the world's most dramatic extensional structures, has produced the continent's highest and lowest volcanoes, ranging from the massive Kilimanjaro to vents in Ethiopia's Danakil Depression that lie below sea level.
Two neighboring volcanoes in Zaire's (today's Democratic Republic of the Congo) Virunga National Park, Nyamuragira and Nyiragongo, are responsible for nearly two-fifths of Africa's historical eruptions.

The East African Rift Valley

Map of East Africa showing some of the historically active volcanoes (red triangles) and the Afar Triangle (shaded, center) -- a so-called triple junction (or triple point), where three plates are pulling away from one another: the Arabian Plate, and the two parts of the African Plate (the Nubian and the Somalian) splitting along the East African Rift Zone.

From: Kious and Tilling, 1996, This Dynamic Earth: The Story of Plate Tectonics: USGS Online version 1.08

In East Africa, spreading processes have already torn Saudi Arabia away from the rest of the African continent, forming the Red Sea. The actively splitting African Plate and the Arabian Plate meet in what geologists call a triple junction, where the Red Sea meets the Gulf of Aden. A new spreading centre may be developing under Africa along the East African Rift Zone. When the continental crust stretches beyond its limits, tension cracks begin to appear on the Earth's surface. Magma rises and squeezes through the widening cracks, sometimes to erupt and form volcanoes. The rising magma, whether or not it erupts, puts more pressure on the crust to produce additional fractures and, ultimately, the rift zone.
East Africa may be the site of the Earth's next major ocean. Plate interactions in the region provide scientists an opportunity to study first hand how the Atlantic may have begun to form about 200 million years ago. Geologists believe that, if spreading continues, the three plates that meet at the edge of the present-day African continent will separate completely; allowing the Indian Ocean to flood the area and making the easternmost corner of Africa (the Horn of Africa) a large island.

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Nyamulagira volcano (DR Congo) - Smithsonian / USGS Weekly Volcanic Activity Report for 30 April-6 May 2025 (Continuing Activity)

Satellite images acquired on 21 and 26 April and on 1 May showed continuing activity at Nyamulagira. Though weather clouds particularly obscured the summit area in all three scenes, bright thermal anomalies indicated continuing activity at the summit crater and active lava flows on the W flank. ... Read all

Fri, 2 May 2025, 07:22