Residents are evacuated due to the risk of a volcanic eruption in Ethiopia

Authorities moved locals to temporary shelters on Friday after a volcano in northeastern Ethiopia appeared to be about to erupt, according to a government geological office and a state-affiliated television.

On its Facebook page, the Ethiopian Geological Institute shared a video that seemed to show smoke and dust rising from a volcano in the Awash Fentale district of Afar.

Authorities have reportedly evacuated residents from the impacted area, which is approximately 165 kilometers (102 miles) from the capital Addis Ababa, according to a regional administrator in Afar quoted by Fana Broadcasting.

Although it was too soon to declare the activity an eruption, officials were not taking any chances, according to Shiferaw Teklemariam, Commissioner of the Ethiopian Disaster Risk Management Commission.

“The neighborhood; some people are already moving out of such places. We’re also getting ready to do it in a systematic way. He told Reuters, “It (moving the community) will be done based on predictions.”

Earthquakes and tremors have also been common in the volcanically active area in recent months.