A volcano in Ethiopia's northeastern Afar region erupted on Monday, researchers said Wednesday, prompting a minor earthquake and record lava flows covering 300 square kilometres (115 square miles).

Addis Ababa University's Institute of Geophysics, Space Sciences and Astronomy said a volcano around the Arteale area spewed lava around noon on Monday.

"Satellite pictures showed that the volcano covered a record area of 300 square kilometres," the institute said in a statement, adding that no major damage to infrastructure or population displacement were immediately reported.

The institute said it subsequently monitored a small earthquake on the same site, around the Horn of Africa nation's famed Mount Arteale, the only active volcano in the area.

Five people were killed and more than 2,000 displaced when an eruption occurred last year on the same mountain range.

The Arteale range had been largely dormant for the previous six decades, but started to spew molten lava after a series of earthquakes rattled the region in September 2005.

Experts have previously said the eruptions were caused by the expansion of tectonic plates under the Great Rift Valley, which for years has been regarded as highly susceptible to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.