The island comprises the basaltic stratovolcano Jabal al-Tair (Tair Mountain; Arabic: جبل الطير Jabal aṭ-Ṭayr, literally, "Bird Mountain") rising from seabed some 1,200 metres (3,940 ft) below the surface of the Red Sea, continuing for 244 m (801 feet) above the surface up to the summit of the crater.

In 1900 the British Admiralty described the island as having no natural water supply, and having a high conical peak rising above a basalt bluff some 300 feet (90 m) above a gradual littoral.

[5] Historically, the Ottoman Empire controlled the Red Sea islands, and granted a French company a lighthouse concession.

The volcano erupted at 7 p.m. local time on 30 September 2007, throwing lava and ash hundreds of meters into the air.

A Canadian officer described a "spectacular backdrop of erupting lava and shooting flames" faced by search parties in small boats.

[15] Several minor earthquakes ranging from 2 to 3.6 on the moment magnitude scale were reported near the island in the two weeks before the eruption.

[2] A Yemeni government geologist expects the volcano to "take time to calm down",[18] but shipping, including tankers carrying 3 million barrels of oil, that pass through the Red Sea daily, have not been affected.