Thousands of civilians in a remote part of north-eastern Ethiopia are being evacuated after potentially dangerous volcanic activity

Ethiopia’s government said it is evacuating approximately 80,000 people following a series of small-scale earthquakes in the Afar, Oromia and Amhara regions. At least 10 earthquakes were reported in Ethiopia since Friday, and there are signs of possible volcanic activity.

As earthquakes continue to rattle the region, triggering volcanic activity on a once-dormant volcano, 80,000 people in Ethiopia have been evacuated.

Evacuations were underway in Ethiopia 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.

Hundreds of people in a rural part of Ethiopia, 165km (100 miles) north-east of the capital, Addis Ababa, have been leaving their homes in panic as a nearby volcano has been showing signs of a possible eruption, a local chief told the BBC's Afaan Oromoo service.

Ethiopia was rocked by a record 10 earthquakes in just 24 hours this week, raising fears of recurring tremors in recent weeks. According to the US Geological Survey, the multiple quakes, ranging in magnitude from 4.3 to 5.1 on the Richter scale, occurred around the Fentale volcano in the Awash region of the country’s main Rift Valley.

Authorities say over 51,000 residents remain at risk due to the increased seismic activity over the past two months. The Ethiopian Disaster Risk Management Commission said on January 4, that 13,000 people from the Afar and Oromia regions have already been moved.