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In magma‐rich rifts, normal faulting is commonly thought to be induced by dike intrusions. However, whether fault slip occurs purely tectonically is unclear. An earthquake sequence starting with a Mw 5.5 earthquake occurred in December 2022 in northern Afar, a continental rift near breakup. InSAR measurements show that seismicity was caused by normal faulting alone, without involvement of magma movements. Our best‐fit InSAR models show that conjugate faults ruptured during the seismic sequence with mainly normal dip‐slip and total deformation corresponding to a Mw 5.7 event, in agreement with local seismic recordings. Our models show that tectonic faulting accommodates 26 cm of extension corresponding to ∼30 years of plate spreading without any link to magma. Our observations point toward significant along‐rift variation in the proportion of extension from faulting, potentially caused by along‐rift variations in rate of extension and/or from a spatially and temporally segmented supply of magma. Plain Language Summary: The Earth's continents move away from each other forming a rift valley between the two separating tectonic plates. In mature stages of the continental rupture process, it is commonly accepted that plate separation occurs from the migration of molten rock (magma) toward the Earth's surface in narrow zones beneath the rift valley. Brittle faulting of the plate was thought to be less important. In this study we analyze the recent earthquake sequence of 26–28 December 2022 in the volcanically active northern Afar rift of Ethiopia. We show that, while the sequence occurred within the rift valley, it was caused by pure faulting without any involvement of magma migrations. These observations are unexpected and show that faults alone can assist plate separation even in mature and magma‐rich rift valleys. Key Points: A seismic sequence with a Mw 5.5 mainshock occurred in the Bada region of northern Afar rift between 26 and 28 December 2022InSAR models and seismicity revealed co‐seismic deformation along conjugate faults with no involvement of magma motionsOur observations show that extension can be achieved through purely tectonic processes in magma‐rich continental rifts [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]