A 37-mile long crack has developed along the east African Rift in Afar, Ethiopia. Scientists say the continent will split into two sections, creating a new ocean in five to 10 million years.

The crack is a visible part of the East African Rift that extends 3,700 miles in length, which is made up of the Gregory Rift and Western Rift. This expanse sits atop three tectonic plates which are slowly peeling apart, a process geologists say will eventually cleave the continent into two, creating a new ocean basin in the process.

The Arabian plate has been moving away from Africa for the past 30 million years, creating the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden in the process. Scientists estimate that it will take at least five to 10 million years for this new ocean to be created.

Each plate is moving at a different rate than the other. The Arabian plate is moving away from Africa at about one inch per year, while the two African plates are moving even slower – between 0.2-.0.5  inches each year.

As this rift continues to grow, it destroys everything in its wake. It has caused part of the Nairobi-Narok highway to collapse, and has even split a house in half.

As the two plates peel apart, material begins to surface and starts to form oceanic crust. Researchers say this is obvious, as continental crust and oceanic crust are distinctly different.

“This is the only place on Earth where you can study how continental rift becomes an oceanic rift,.” Christopher Moore, a P.H.D. doctoral student at the University of Leeds, said.

It is unknown what exactly is causing the crack to form, but scientists have hypothesized that it could be a plume of superheated rocks rising from the mantle beneath the crust. Over time this causes a split to be made, forcing the crust apart.

While the timeline is long, extreme weather events and tremors could exacerbate the rifts. It is expected more cracks will form throughout the region over time. In the meantime, locals have been filling the crack with rocks and cement.

Over a few million years, the eastern edge of Africa will start to break away from the rest of Africa by a small and shallow sea. As the rift grows, Earth will have large islands in the Indian ocean, containing parts of Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya, and Tanzania.