Get our newsletter!     Volcano Discoveries: "One of the most eye-catching guides to the world’s volcanoes ever published.  VolcanoAdventures: Our professional team of volcanologists and photographers offers unique travel opportunities: volcano expeditions, photo tours, and relaxed walking & study tours.  The Volcano Adventure Guide: Excellent information and background for anyone wishing to visit active volcanoes safely and enjoyably. The book presents guidelines to visiting 42 different volcanoes around the world. Guaranteed tours: : spaces available / : guaranteed / : few spaces left / : booked out Random pictures | |  Erta Ale volcano is a large basaltic shield volcano in the Erta Ale volcanic range in the central northern Danakil depression (NE Ethiopia).
It is famed for its persistent lava lake which has been active during most of the past decades since it was first discovered in the 1960s.
Erta Ale is only 613 m high, but as typical for a shield volcano has a very gentle slopes and a large 40 km diameter base. The summit is truncated by a complex, elongated 1700 x 600 m wide caldera which contains vast lava flows and several larger and smaller pit craters, most notably the active north and south crater, which contains the lava lake at present.
Erta Ale is one of the main attractions of the Danakil, and had became a popular tour destination in recent years. Unfortunately, the deadly attack on 4 January 2012 against tourists and scientists camped on the crater rim, in which several were killed, illustrates that the area is politically unstable and can be subject to terrorist attacks. Anyone visiting the volcano should be aware of this.
Shield volcano 613 m / 2,011 ft
Danakil depression, Ethiopia, 13.6°N / 40.66°E Current status: erupting (4 out of 5) Erta Ale webcams / live data | ReportsErta Ale volcano videosErta Ale volcano books | ToursErta Ale volcano eruptions:
1873(?), 1903(?), 1904(?), 1906, 1940, 1960, 1967-2004, 2005-ongoing Typical eruption style:Effusive. Persistant lava lake. Last earthquakes nearbyErta Ale volcano toursDesert, salt and volcanoes (14 days expedition to Erta Ale volcano and Dallol hydrothermal field (Danakil desert, Ethiopia)) Latest satellite images  Sentinel hub | Landsat 8 Erta Ale (Ethiopia) volcano news:Erta Ale volcano (Ethiopia): lava lake drops but remains very activeWednesday Mar 02, 2016 09:55 AM | BY: T  The lava lake of Erta Ale seen in late Dec 2015 (image: Enku Mulugheta)
The level of the active lava lake in the volcano's southern pit crater of the summit caldera has sunk a bit again after its last overflow in mid January, but remains highly agitated. Our expedition leader Enku who was there with a small group from 12-15 February reported: " Erta Ale is going down again to 5- 7 Meters from the rim of the caldera, but the activity is getting very wild at this time and it was very hard to walk on the the recently crusted flow.
The last flow went in every direction from the crater and covered the whole rim with fresh crust of gaseous basaltic pahoehoe lava." Previous newsMonday, Jan 18, 2016 The lava lake of Erta Ale has overflown, our correspondents from Ethiopia reported. The first lava over-spilled the rim of the containing crater at midnight of 15-16 Jan 2016. It seems that the situation is similar to the spectacular events in November/December 2010 when the lava lake last overflowed. ...
[more]Thursday, Dec 03, 2015 During our recent volcano expedition to the Danakil depression, we have observed the active lava lake of Erta Ale - which had been at very high level just a few meters before overflowing - for three continuous days (19-21 November 2015). ...
[more]Saturday, Nov 21, 2015 The lava lake in the southern pit of the caldera, 30-40 meters in diameter, remains very active and approaches again levels close to overflowing the margins of the pit, being only a few meters below the floor of the caldera. ...
[more]Friday, Jan 03, 2014 The level of Erta Ale's active lava lake in the southern pit crater has risen considerably during recent months and is now only about 5-10 m below the rim in some places. Check out some new pictures here.
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