Afar Triangle earthquake sequence (23 December 2024 to 4 January 2025)

This map (provided by the United States Geological Survey) shows a cluster of earthquake epicenters in the southwestern Afar Triangle (Afar Hotspot) area in Ethiopia, eastern Africa. Sixty-six events over 13 days are depicted here, from 23 December 2024 to 4 January 2025. Six of these quakes were magnitude 5 or above. The other sixty events ranged from magnitude 4.2 to 4.9. The largest event so far was magnitude 5.7, which occurred on 4 January 2025.

The day before the magnitude 5.7 quake, hydrothermal features began erupting at Mount Dofan, a volcano in the same area (see: www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqgyfmfAto8).

The Afar Hotspot is a large, subsurface mantle plume similar to Yellowstone, Hawaii, and Iceland. Afar has ripped the African continent apart and continues to do so today. The Arabian Plate used to be part of the African Plate. Arabia has since rifted away due to hotspot activity and the subsequent development of new divergent plate boundaries (= mid-ocean ridges). Three tears, or rips, have developed in the African Plate due to the Afar Hotspot - the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, and the East African Rift Valley. The first two tears are now flooded by the ocean. The third is still land, although parts of the rift valley system are occupied by lakes. In the far future, the third rip will also be flooded by the ocean, resulting in an even smaller African continent.
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Info. on the largest event at:
earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us6000phrk/exec...
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An earthquake is a natural shaking or vibrating of the Earth caused by sudden fault movement and a rapid release of energy. Earthquake activity is called "seismicity". The study of earthquakes is called "seismology". The actual underground location of an earthquake is the hypocenter, or focus. The site at the Earth's surface, directly above the hypocenter, is the epicenter. Minor earthquakes may occur before a major event - such small quakes are called foreshocks. Minor to major quakes after a major event are aftershocks.

Most earthquakes occur at or near tectonic plate boundaries, such as subduction zones, mid-ocean ridges, collision zones, and transform plate boundaries. They also occur at hotspots - large subsurface mantle plumes (Examples: Hawaii, Yellowstone, Iceland, Afar).

Earthquakes generate four types of shock waves: P-waves, S-waves, Love waves, and Rayleigh waves. P-waves and S-waves are body waves - they travel through solid rocks. Love waves and Rayleigh waves travel only at the surface - they are surface waves. P-waves are push-pull waves that travel quickly and cause little damage. S-waves are up-and-down waves (like flicking a rope) that travel slowly and cause significant damage. Love waves are side-to-side surface waves, like a slithering snake. Rayleigh waves are rotational surface waves, somewhat like ripples from tossing a pebble into a pond.

Earthquakes are associated with many specific hazards, such as ground shaking, ground rupturing, subsidence (sinking), uplift (rising), tsunamis, landslides, fires, and liquefaction.

Some famous major earthquakes in history include: Shensi, China in 1556; Lisbon, Portugal in 1755; New Madrid, Missouri in 1811-1812; San Francisco, California in 1906; Anchorage, Alaska in 1964; and Loma Prieta, California in 1989.

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Taken on: January 3, 2025

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