The African continent is splitting into two parts faster than anticipated.

The ground is shaking beneath the African continent. Africa could split into two parts along a rift more than 3,200 kilometers long, potentially forming a sixth ocean at the point of separation. Scientists now assert that this process is occurring much more rapidly than previously thought, as reported by Bild.

The culprit is the movement of tectonic plates, which are in constant motion. The first signs emerged back in 2005, when a crack over 50 kilometers long appeared in the Ethiopian desert. Another rift formed in Kenya in 2018, resulting in a fissure that was 15 meters deep, 20 meters wide, and several kilometers long.

This is the Great African Rift, which began 30 million years ago. The African plate is breaking apart on its eastern side, giving rise to a new tectonic plate known as the Somali plate. The consequences are becoming increasingly evident on the Earth's surface.

Until recently, scientists believed that it would take between 5 to 10 million years for the new continent to separate from the mega-rift, but recent data indicates that this is happening much faster.

Cynthia Ebinger, a geologist from Tulane University in New Orleans, believes that Africa will split within a million years, possibly even sooner.

She explains that a major seismic event, such as an earthquake, could accelerate this process, although accurately predicting such events remains a challenging task. Even if this seems extraordinarily long in human terms, it is rapid in geological time.

The rift is expanding by 0.8 to 2.5 centimeters each year. Somalia, Ethiopia, Tanzania, and half of Kenya will eventually form a massive island off the coast of Africa. On the other hand, landlocked countries like Zambia and Uganda will gain a coastline along the new ocean.

In 2023, research from scientists at the Virginia Tech confirmed the theory that enormous flows of magma beneath the Earth's crust are responsible for the rift.

Using a computer model, it was determined that the movement of tectonic plates can be traced back to the so-called African superplume. A mantle plume is a hot flow of mantle material moving from the Earth's core to its surface. One such massive plume fuels the volcanoes and geysers in Yellowstone.

These so-called mantle plumes have repeatedly triggered volcanic eruptions worldwide, with superplumes being an even larger variant. Due to their mass and heat, they can also influence climate and tectonic movements, as is currently the case beneath Africa.

It is worth noting that scientists previously warned that in this century, a powerful volcanic eruption could occur on Earth with a probability of one in six, and "humanity has no plan to prevent it." Similar eruptions in the past have caused drastic climate changes and led to the destruction of civilizations.