- An earthquake of 5.5 M at a depth of 10 km occurred in southern Afar region, central Ethiopia on 16 March at 18.53 UTC (21.53 local time). The epicentre was located 4 km south-east of Fentale volcano and 43 km north of Awash city in southern Afar region.
- An aftershock of 4.3 M hit the same area on 16 March at 22.20 UTC.
- USGS PAGER estimates that up to 6,000 people were exposed to severe shaking, 26,000 to very strong shaking and 14,000 to strong shaking.
- Since December 2024, this area between the Fentale and Dofan volcanoes, in southern Afar and northern Oromia regions, has been experiencing intense seismic activity with earthquakes that reached up to 6.0 M. More than 80,000 people have evacuated the affected areas since January and several infrastructures have been severely damaged.
- The Ethiopia Rapid Response Mechanism co-funded by DG ECHO is responding to the needs of the earthquake-affected population. So far, around EUR 1.2 million have been allocated to this response, including the Disaster Response Emergency Fund (DREF) replenishment.
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