The volcano–seismic crisis in Afar, Ethiopia, starting September 2005

Abstract

We describe the seismo–volcanic crisis that occurred in northern Afar in late 2005, which involved 15 earthquakes greater than M5 and a small explosive silicic eruption from a vent called Da'Ure (at 12.651°N., 40.519°N) close to Dabbahu volcano. The purpose is to pull together the different sources of information into a coherent preliminary interpretation of what happened. The main geophysical data are the locations of the largest earthquakes, and a radar interferogram of unusually high quality that reveals injection of a 60 km long dyke with surface deformation expressed as normal faulting. Subsidence occurred around the Dabbahu volcanic edifice. Most of the dyke is likely to have been basaltic rather than silicic although the eruption was silicic. The volume of the subsidence represents at most 25% of the magma injected into the dyke. The silicic eruption was possibly triggered by interaction of basaltic magma with a shallow silicic reservoir. At about the same time as the eruption and dyking episode, some activity appears also to have taken place at the lava lake at Erta Ale volcano, some 150 km to the north of the eruption site. We evaluate the possibility that there may be some link by calculating stresses associated with opening of the fissure and looking at the activity of the lava lake as revealed by the thermal anomaly seen by weather satellites.