In 2005, a dramatic 35-mile-long crack suddenly opened in Ethiopia’s Afar region — a place where the African continent is literally tearing itself apart. The split formed in just a few days, revealing what scientists had long predicted:
Three major tectonic plates — the African, Somali, and Arabian plates — are pulling away from each other.
This region is part of the East African Rift System, one of the few places on Earth where you can watch a continent slowly break into pieces. As the plates continue to drift apart, molten rock rises from below, widening the rift year by year.
What does this mean for the future?
Over millions of years, this rifting will create a brand-new ocean — separating East Africa from the rest of the continent, similar to how the Red Sea formed.
Geology rarely gives us sudden, dramatic events, but the 2005 crack was a powerful reminder:
Earth is alive, shifting, and reshaping itself in real time.
Credit: Anthony Philpotts