Erta Ale (Ethiopia) volcano news:
Erta Ale (Ethiopia): summit lava lake revives as activity at flank eruption site slows down
Fri, 12 Oct 2018, 08:28
08:28 AM | IS
Daytime view of the active lava lake is often obscured by strong degassing (image: Enku Mulugetu, September 2018)

Night-time surface of the lava lake observed when the volcanic gasses temporarily cleared up (image: Stefan Tommasini, January 2018)

Wide angle view of the partially collapsed south crater with the lava lake’s surface at the northern end (image: Stefan Tommasini, January 2018)

This diagram of the radiative power measured over time at Erta Ale by satellites shows that the volcano is currently again in a more active phase (Mirova, 11 October 2018 - http://www.mirovaweb.it/)
The lava lake of Erta Ale’s summit caldera is currently at some 75 m below the rim of the south crater, a large circular pit with dimensions of about 230 by 230 m. The lava lake is thereby occupying the northern part of this active crater and strongly degassing, making daytime observations more difficult. However, from sunset throughout the night-time the volcanic gasses periodically clear up so that one can have a clear view onto surface of the active lava lake and observe its constant movement. The thin black surface of the lava lake thereby shows red-hot cracks where liquid lava wells up, pushing the crust sideways and even overflowing and recycling it. Sometimes gasses well up in the liquid lava below the surface and break through it, exploding in large bubbles of lava. The movement of the spreading lava lake crust is steady and strong degassing alternated with clearing up of the view occurs in cycles.
Meanwhile the recent fissure eruption located about 4 km south of the volcano’s summit seems to be slowing down after 18 months of vigorous activity. This means that Erta Ale’s main activity is once again concentrating on the summit caldera where the lava lake in the south crater is slowly but surely reviving. If this trend continues, we can expect that over the next few months the lava lake will gradually rise, covering more of the bottom of the south pit and becoming better visible as the volcanic gasses can escape more easily.
Depending on how large the magma input below the volcano is, the lava lake may recover relatively fast from its drainage and partial collapse in January 2017 and once again overflow onto the floor of the large summit caldera within a (few) year(s). Although the sudden emptying of the summit lava lake upon the opening of the south flank fissure eruption was an event not previously reported at Erta Ale, the rising and falling of the lava lake’s surface with many tens of meters and periodic overflows onto the caldera flow were standard observations throughout the past 2 decades. We should not forget that Erta Ale, like any other active volcano, is constantly changing and its eruptive activity merely the surface expression of the amount of magma rising up from deep below. Volcanoes built up over tens and hundreds of thousands of years, making the decades, or sometimes even centuries, that we observe and document their activity mere moments in their long life.
Those fascinated to experience this volcano’s heartbeat at first hand are invited to check out our Danakil volcano adventures. We have 20 years of expertise in organising expeditions to this unique volcanic region and plan multiple days to explore both Erta Ale’s summit caldera with the active lava lake and the new fissure eruption site!
- All news about: Erta Ale volcano
- Information about: Erta Ale volcano
---
Links / Sources:
Links / Sources:
Previous news
Wed, 25 Jul 2018, 15:54
Danakil expedition organiser Enku reports after our recent tour to this Ethiopian shield volcano that activity continues both at Erta Ale’s summit caldera and the fissure eruption site on its SE flank with sustained lava lakes. ... read all
Tue, 17 Jul 2018, 16:50
Although visitor numbers increased significantly over the past years, the active lava lake of Erta Ale volcano and unique colourful scenery of Dallol’s hydrothermal fields remained more risky travel destinations due to their proximity to Ethiopia’s border with Eritrea. The decades long violent conflict between the two countries included the killing of 5 and kidnapping of 2 tourists visiting Erta Ale in January 2012. Following this deadly incident new safety measures involved military presence at all times on Erta Ale’s summit as well as armed Afar escorts for anyone traveling in these parts of the Danakil depression. Increased security made adventure travellers return to this one-off destination which recently saw a large increase in visitors as well as documentary coverage. The region will undoubtedly become even more popular now that the 8 July 2018 peace agreement between Ethiopia and Eritrea unexpectedly made an end to one of Africa’s longest running conflicts. ... read all
Sat, 16 Dec 2017, 08:58
Our Danakil expedition organiser and tour guide Enku has returned from a short visit to Erta Ale and informed us about both the security situation on the volcano as its activity at the summit. ... read all
Wed, 6 Dec 2017, 10:07
Very sad news arrives from the Danakil desert where last Sunday 3 December a German tourist died and his Ethiopian guide got injured while they were climbing Erta Ale. The two were part of a larger tourist group which had traveled from Mekele and was making their way up to the summit of the volcano. ... read all
Thu, 24 Aug 2017, 16:07
Volcanic activity remains very high at Erta Ale, the shield volcano in the Danakil depression in northern Ethiopia. read all
More on VolcanoDiscovery

Volcano & eruption special tours: Tours dedicated to usually a single volcano currently in eruption. These trip, sometimes offered only last-minute through our newsletter, are among the most adventurous and most popular in our program.

Photos from the Kuril Islands: Some rarely visited volcanoes, unspoiled nature, lots of WWII remnants - browse through several galleries from our tours to the Kuril Islands.

Etna's steam rings: A collection of fantastic vortex rings ("smoke rings") we observed recently on Etna.