In the early morning hours of June 13, 2011 local time, a volcanic eruption occurred at the Dubbi or Nabro stratovolcano in Eritrea, near the border with Ethiopia. Eruption Satellite images showed a large eruption occurring shortly after 2200 UTC June 12, close to 1 AM East Africa Time, in the Southern Red Sea Region. The eruption created a large ash cloud near the Eritrea-Ethiopia border region, eventually extending over into neighboring Sudan. Oddly enough the eruption is taking a long time to verify due to the remoteness of the location. Forecasters predicted that the ash plume may reach Israel. Geology The erupting volcano is located within the Afar Triangle, in the larger Danakil Depression that holds many other active volcanoes. However, neither volcano thought potentially responsible for the eruption has seen activity in the past century, with Dubbi last erupting in 1861 and Nabro remaining quiet for thousands of years. No eruption of Nabro occurred in recorded history. Earthquakes A series of earthquakes, including two at magnitude 5.7 struck the region in the hours preceeding the eruption. The tremors may be volcanic in origin.
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