Mexico: 'El Popo' volcano spews plumes of smoke high into sky

Mexico's Popocatepetl, affectionately referred to as "El Popo", has recently intensified its fiery activity. It is one of the country's most active volcanoes.

As reported by news agency Reuters, a timelapse video showed ashes and smoke erupting from the volcano on Thursday (May 25).

The National Coordination of Civil Protection said on it Twitter account that the volcano maintains a continuous emission of water steam and gas with low ash content as of Thursday.

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Several towns closed schools due to volcanic ash earlier this week and Mexico City's Benito Juarez International Airport had to halt operations for more than five hours on Saturday (May 20).

Low amplitude tremor was reported and smoke and ash reached a height between 400 and 600 m in a south-southeast direction.

The news agency reported that residents of nearby ash-covered towns Santiago Xalitzintla and San Nicolas de los Ranchos, in the state of Puebla, remain alert to volcanic activity.

As quoted, Rene Lopez Xoletl, an inhabitant of San Nicolas de los Ranchos, said, "People are afraid of those situations (release of materials or eruptions) but first of all, as we have been told, we have to be calm and alert."

Disclaimer: WION cannot independently verify the authenticity of photos and videos shared on social media.

What do we know about Popocatepetl?

The meaning of Popocatepetl is "Smoking Hill" in the native Aztec language Nahuatl, is one of the world's most closely monitored volcanoes. It rises just about 45 miles southeast of Mexico City and is home to approximately nine million people (over 22 million including the metropolitan region).

Juan Manuel Espíndola, a researcher at the Institute of Geophysics of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) states the latest burst of activity is not very different from others seen since it awoke from decades of slumber in 1994.

Espíndola said that similar occurrences occurred in Popocatepetl in the late 1990s and early 2000s, but the present phase could "go in a more dangerous direction".

Experts are constantly monitoring seismic activity around the volcano, as well as the composition of the materials and gasses it spews out, to try to predict a possible major eruption.

"Volcanoes have a somewhat capricious activity," Espindola said.

(With inputs from agencies)

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