ADDIS: Evacuations were underway in Ethio­pia on Saturday after a series of earthquakes, the strongest of which, a 5.8-magnitude jolt, rocked the remote north of the Horn of Africa nation.

The quakes were centred on the largely rural Afar, Oromia and Amh­ara regions after months of intense seismic activity. No casualties have been reported so far.

Ethiopia’s government Communication Service said around 80,000 people were living in the affected regions and the most vulnerable were being moved to temporary shelters. “The earthquakes are increasing in terms of magnitude and recurrences,” it said in a statement.

The Ethiopian Disas­ter Risk Management Commission said 20,573 people had been evacuated to safer areas in Afar and Oromia, from a tally of over 51,000 “vulnerable” people. Plans were underway to move more than 8,000 people in Oromia “in the coming days”, the agency said in a statement.

The latest shallow 4.7 magnitude quake hit just before 12:40pm about 33 kilometres north of Mete­hara town in Oromia,

accor­ding to the European Mediterranean Seismolo­gi­cal Centre. The earthquakes have damaged houses and threatened to trigger a volcanic eruption of the previously dormant Mount Dofan.

Published in Dawn, January 5th, 2025