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Ethiopia's Mount Fentale volcano emitted substantial methane plumes in January 2025, an unusual event for volcanic activity

About Mount Fentale

It is a stratovolcano

It is located in Awash National Park in the Oromia Region, Ethiopia.

It rises about 600 m from the floor of the Rift Valley. A rift valley is a lowland region that forms where Earth’s tectonic plates move apart, or rift.

The lavas of the volcano cover an oval area of almost 100 sq km.

An elliptical caldera which is about 6 km in diameter, dominates the upper portion of the volcano.

A caldera is a large depression formed when a volcano erupts and collapses.

A magnitude 6.0 earthquake hit under Fentale volcano on 14^th February 2025.

It is the strongest earthquake to strike Ethiopia since 1989.

The stratovolcano is a tall, steep, and cone-shaped type of volcano. At the peak, stratovolcanoes usually have a small crater.

Unlike flat shield volcanoes like in Hawaii, they have higher peaks.

Stratovolcanoes build up on height by layering lava, ash, and tephra. This type of volcanoes comprise the largest percentage (~60%) of the Earth's individual volcanoes

They have alternating layers of pyroclastics and lava evident from the name itself.

When ash falls or lava flows, it solidifies and makes a narrower cone.

Note: Pyroclastic materials, also called tephra, are formed from cooling magma during explosive volcanic eruptions.

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