Erta Ale

Erta Ale rises in the Afar Region of northeastern Ethiopia, within the Danakil Depression near the Eritrean border, reaching 613 meters as a continuously active basaltic shield volcano. It sits at the Afar triple junction, where the African, Arabian and Somali tectonic plates meet near the southern end of the Red Sea Rift, and its mafic lavas were brought to the surface by dike emplacement during rifting events. Erta Ale holds one or two active lava lakes at its summit, occasionally overflowing to the south, and is notable for the longest-existing lava lake known anywhere, present continuously since at least 1906. Significant eruptions occurred in 2005, 2007 and 2008, and a further eruptive episode ran from January 2017 through at least April 2024, with volcanic pulses continuing across that span. This entity documents Erta Ale specifically as a geological formation, a rift-zone shield volcano holding the world's longest continuously active lava lake.