Volcanoes of Saudi Arabia (14)

Go to: Eruptions FAQ Quakes News

Saudi Arabia has active volcanoes in the west and northwest of the country. Volcanic activity is related to hot spot activity on the Arabian Plate which was uplifted on the eastern side of the Red Sea rift.
The basaltic lava fields in the western part of the country are called harrats. They cover about 180,000 square km and extend from Turkey to Yemen in the south.

[hide/show quakes] | [smaller] [bigger]

Significant volcanic eruptions: Saudi Arabia

In historic times, at least 4 volcanoes have been active in Saudi Arabia, including Jabal Yar, Harrat Rahat, and Harrat Lunayyir volcanoes. A total of 5 eruptions have been witnessed and documented since around 641 AD.
The table below lists volcanic eruptions, significant eruptive episodes or related events in Saudi Arabia during geologically recent times.

Date	Volcano	VEI	Region
1810 ±10 y.	Jabal Yar	2	western Saudi Arabia
1256 AD Jun 5 - Jul 27 ?	Harrat Rahat Fissure 20 km SE of Madinah	3	western Saudi Arabia
1000 or before AD	Harrat Lunayyir	?	Tabuk Province, western Saudi Arabia
650 ±50 y. AD	Harrat Khaybar Harrat Lali	2?	western Saudi Arabia
641 AD	Harrat Rahat West of Madinah	2	western Saudi Arabia

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

Saudi Arabia FAQ

+When was the last volcanic eruption in Saudi Arabia?

The last volcanic eruption in Saudi Arabia was from Jabal Yar volcano around 1810.

+When was the first documented volcanic eruption in Saudi Arabia?

The first historically documented eruption occurred around 641 AD from Harrat Rahat volcano.

+How often do volcanoes in Saudi Arabia erupt?

Since 641 AD, Saudi Arabia has seen at least 5 historically documented eruptions. This means that a volcano erupts on average every 277 years.

+When was the largest volcanic eruption in Saudi Arabia?

The largest eruption in Saudi Arabia in historic times was from Harrat Rahat volcano. It occurred in 1256 AD. It ranks as a "vulcanian" eruption with a magnitude 3 on the VEI (Volcanic Explosivity Index) scale.

Latest earthquakes: Saudi Arabia

There were no significant confirmed earthquakes in or near Saudi Arabia in the past 7 days.

Date and Time	Mag / Depth	Nearest Volcano / Location

See Recent Quakes

Significant Earthquakes in Saudi Arabia since 1900

The deadliest earthquake in Saudi Arabia since 1900 was the magnitude 7.2 earthquake in

Saudi Arabia on Nov, 22, 1995. It resulted in 11 fatalities and 47 injured people. A tsunami was generated by the quake as well and contributed to its desctuctive effects. The height of the tsunami waves reached 4 m (13 ft). This was the most disastrous quake in Saudi Arabia ever recorded. This was also the most damaging earthquake that occurred in this time: total economic losses were estimated to the equivalent of $1-5 million USD. Between 1-50 houses and other buildings were destroyed and an unknown number damaged.

Date	Mag	Region	Deaths	Damage
2009 May 17	4.6	Western	0	light	Info
2004 Jun 9	4.6	Western	0	light	Info
1995 Nov 22	7.2	Egypt: Nuwaybi; Saudi Arabia; Israel; Jordan	11	moderate	Info

Source: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), Global Significant Earthquake Database. doi:10.7289/V5TD9V7K

All Quakes in History

Map

Oldest quakes (until 1960) are shown in yellow, most recent (from 2000) in red.

[quakes -] [quakes +] [smaller] [bigger]

Significant Earthquakes in Saudi Arabia FAQ

+Which was the deadliest earthquake in Saudi Arabia since 1900?

The deadliest earthquake in Saudi Arabia since 1900 was the magnitude 7.2 earthquake in Saudi Arabia on Nov, 22, 1995. It resulted in 11 fatalities and 47 injured people. A tsunami was generated by the quake as well and contributed to its desctuctive effects. The height of the tsunami waves reached 4 m (13 ft). This was the most disastrous quake in Saudi Arabia ever recorded.

+How many people were killed by earthquakes in Saudi Arabia since 1900?

Since 1900, at least 1 earthquakes claimed an estimated total of 11 fatalities in Saudi Arabia.

+How much damage did earthquakes cause in Saudi Arabia since 1900?

There were 3 damaging or deadly quakes during this period that caused economic losses of approx. $7 million US Dollars combined.

Volcano List

Al Harrah

(volcanic field 1100 m / 3,609 ft)

Al Harrah volcano is a large basaltic volcanic field in NW Saudi Arabia near the Jordanian border. It comprises 15,200 sq km of basalt lava flows and forms the southern third of the Harrat Ash Shamah volcanic field, which extends from Syria through Jordan into northern Saudi Arab... [more info]

Harrat 'Uwayrid

(volcanic field 1920 m / 6,299 ft)

Harrat 'Uwayrid volcano is one of several basaltic volcanic fields in western Arabia, located 120 km east of the Red Sea. The field contains vast lava flows, scoria cones and tuff cones in a NW-SE aligned 125 km long area. To the NW, it joins with the Harrat ar Rahat volcanic fie... [more info]

Harrat al Birk

(volcanic field 381 m / 1,250 ft)

Harrat al Birk volcano (also known as Harrat Hayil or Hubhub al Sheikh) is the only young volcanic field of Western Arabia located directly at the Red Sea coast, west of the town of Abha, and between the Tihamat ash Sham and Tihamat 'Asir coastal plains.
It consists of 180... [more info]

Harrat ar Rahah

(volcanic field 1950 m / 6,398 ft)

Harrat ar Rahah is the northernmost of a series of young basaltic volcanic fields in western Saudi Arabia arranged parallel to the Red Sea. It is located south of the Plain of El-'Hisma, south of the town of Tabuk.
The field contains mainly large olivine-bearing basalt lava... [more info]

Harrat Ash Shaam

(Volcanic field 1100 m / 3609 ft)

Harrat Ash Shaam is a very large volcanic field extending from Syria through Jordan and into northern Saudi Arabia. It contains extensive geologically young, mostly basaltic lava flows and cinder cones.
Historic sources and modern dating techniques suggest that at least sp... [more info]

Harrat Hutaymah

(Volcanic field unknown)

[more info]

Harrat Ithnayn

(volcanic field 1625 m / 5,331 ft)

Harrat Ithnayn volcano is volcanic field of 4000 sq km size in western Saudi Arabia north of the Harrat Khaybar volcanic field. It consists of various shield volcanoes and scoria cones, and contains large basalt flows with lava caves.
The youngest lava flows from Harrat Ith... [more info]

Harrat Khaybar

(volcanic field 2093 m / 6,867 ft)

A volcano of the Harrat Khaybar volcanic field (Photo: Paul Nicholson)

Harrat Khaybar volcano one of Arabia's largest volcanic fields and covers more than 14,000 square km 65 km NE of Al Madinah (Medina) in western Saudi Arabia. It contains a 100 km long N-S oriented line of volcanic vents including scoria cones, lava domes, maars, basalt lava flows... [more info]

Harrat Kishb

(volcanic field 1475 m / 4,839 ft)

Harrat Kishb volcano is a 5900 sq km volcanic field in central Saudi Arabia, east of the other N-S-trending chain of Harrats.
The volcanic field contains basaltic scoria cones, tuff rings, maars, lava domes and lava flows. [more info]

Harrat Lunayyir

(volcanic field 1370 m / 4,495 ft)

Harrat Lunayyir volcano is a volcanic field in western Saudi Arabia east of the Red Sea port of Umm Lajj. The basaltic field contains about 50 cinder cones and lava flows aligned N-S. Two of the lava flows have reached the Red Sea.
An eruption has probably occurred in the 1... [more info]

Harrat Rahat

(volcanic field 1744 m / 5,722 ft)

Harrat Rahat is Saudi Arabia's largest lava field and comprises an area of 20,000 sq km, extending for 300 km at an average width of 60 km south of the holy city of Al Madinah (Medina).
Historic eruptions have occurred near Medina, notably one in 1256 AD. [more info]

Jabal Baqarah

(Cone 331 m / 1086 ft)

[more info]

Jabal Yar

(volcanic field 305 m / 1,001 ft)

Jabal Yar volcano is a small volcanic field, the southernmost of Saudi Arabia, located along the Red Sea coast close to the border with Yemen.
The field contains 3 groups of volcanoes, Qummatain, Djar'atain-Harra and 'Ukwatain. Hot springs occur south of Djar'atain and bet... [more info]

Jibal al Haylah

(Cone 761 m / 2497 ft)

[more info]

Try our free app!

Android | iOS version

Guaranteed tours

9-25 Jun 2025: Volcanoes and Spices - Sulawesi/Halmahera (Indonesia)

7-22 Jul 2025: From Krakatau to Bali - Java (Indonesia)

7-23 Jul 2025: Volcanoes and Spices - Sulawesi/Halmahera (Indonesia)

1-17 Aug 2025: Volcanoes and Spices - Sulawesi/Halmahera (Indonesia)

1-14 Oct 2025: Desert, salt and volcanoes - Danakil desert (Ethiopia)

4-12 Oct 2025: From Stromboli to Etna - Sicily and Eolian Islands (Italy)

6-21 Oct 2025: From Krakatau to Bali - Java (Indonesia)

3-19 Nov 2025: Volcanoes and Spices - Sulawesi/Halmahera (Indonesia)

= spaces available = guaranteed = few spaces left = booked out

The young basaltic lava fields of Western Arabia

Location of the Harrats in western Arabia

The young volcanic fields of western Arabia (Harrats) are less than 10 million years old and not directly related to the Red Sea Rift.
These young volcanoes and lava-fields form a distinct 600 km long N-S chain (Makkah-Madinah-Nafud volcanic line) and the vents are aligned N-S, different from the NNW-SSE direction of the Red Sea Rift. It forms the axis of uplift of western Saudi Arabia.
Between Makkah and Madinah is the 20,000km2 Harrat Rahat lava field with 644 scoria cones, 36 shield volcanoes and 24 domes. Between Madinah and the Great Nafud are the coalesced harrats Khaybar, Ithnayn and Kura with an area of 20,560km2 and 327 scoria cones, 46 basaltic shield volcanoes, 20 domes, 5 tuff cones, one basaltic stratovolcano (Jebel Qidr) and 39 massive and very long "whale-back" lava flow. These the biggest and longest basalt flows in western Saudi Arabia and contain the biggest and most extensive lava-tubes.
The volcanoes represent a completely new N-S crustal rift that began forming only 10 million years ago in western Saudi Arabia. So in a few tens of millions of years there might be a new ocean forming along this line similar to the Red Sea.
from: The lava fields of Saudi Arabia and the formation of the Kishb lava tubes