Popocatépetl Volcano Updates: Mass Evacuation, World's Most Dangerous Volcano Exploding, Millions at Risk

by Deborah Dupré

Update: Sun 24 Jan. 7:45 PST: Popocatepetl Volcano Erupting Lava

Popocatepetl volcano in central Mexico remained active all day Sunday, spewing a constant stream of ash and gas into the. The volcano, also known as “Don Goyo”, started sustained activity Saturday morning and continued almost uninterrupted all day Sunday — with one addition, erupting lava.

Mexico’s National Disaster Prevention Centre said in its daily report that the volcano erupted lava Saturday night. Authorities are urging people not to get close to the volcano and particularly to its craters.

Update: Sun. 24 Jan. 7:00pm PST: Ominous Popocatépetl Volcano Brand New Videos

Mexican government officials released warnings and ominous videos on Sunday, showing Popocatépetl volcano now has “constant activity, generating a constant exhalation of steam with low ash content.” The government’s strong warnings to the public were related to extreme dangers linked to the volcano, now emitting dangerously large ballistic fragments. The volcano is only 35 miles from the world’s 3rd largest city, Mexico City, with over 21 million residents.

The official videos presented by Mexican officials at CENAPRED came with strong warnings, but also statements advising that this volcanic activity is considered within the yellow light phase 2, so the actual phase has not changed since yesterday. [Read more and watch videos here: Ominous Popocatépetl Volcano Brand New Videos]

READ: Alaska 7.1 Earthquake, Mysterious Booms

Update: Sun. 24 Jan, 7:30am PST

As Popocatépetl Volcano ceases to rest, Colima Volcano: Mexico’s Disaster Prevention Centre said that during the past 24 hours, Colima volcano emitted three explosions and 16 “low intensity exhalations,” according to El Universal. People are urged to not approach the peak, particularly the crater, due “ballistic fragments.” The Ministry of Interior expects continued “low explosive activity on an intermediate scale”, mild to moderate ash falls in the nearby town, and possibile “fast-moving currents of hot gas and rock.”

According to the national coordinator of Civil Protection, Luis Felipe Puente, Colima volcano emitted a flash forming a column approximately two kilometers high with low ash content. The official of the Ministry of the Interior (Interior Ministry) said that the emanation on the border of the states of Jalisco and Colima, occurred at 10:14 hours Saturday, and winds scattered it southeast.

“Exhaling # VolcánDeColima at 10:14 Hrs. Height approx 2 km, heading east with low ash content, “he wrote on Twitter, LUISFELIPE_P.

Prevention: Populations surrounding the “Volcano of Fire” are urged to stay informed and take precautions, especially because toxic volcanic ashfall health effects can last a long time. In case of ashfall, it is suggested people cover mouths and noses, clean eyes and throats, wear eyeglasses, close windows, cover water bodies for not pollute, stay indoors, sweep ash but not throw it down the drain, according to El Sol De Mexico.

Original Story

Popocatépetl volcano Photo Credit: Cenapred

Popocatépetl volcano, one of the world’s most dangerous volcanoes, spewed a mile-high ash plume into the sky Friday, threatening millions of Mexicans’ lives and prompting a mass evacuation alert to prevent catastrophe. Popocatepetl is only 35 miles from Mexico City and 20 miles from Peubla. Many Mexicans have already fled their homes, escaping the fiery monster’s poisonous gas and ash casting daytime darkness.

Mexico City, the country’s capital and the world’s fourth most populated city, is home to 20 million people. Peubla has over 6 million people living there, now under a sky dark with ash and smok. Everyone in both Mexico City and Puebla could be at risk if a catastrophic eruption occurs. If the volcano has a massive eruption, an estimated nine million people would be in the blast zone. Impact on the atmosphere could be catastrophic.

Popocatepetl fiery restlessness in 2013

Popocatepetl is the Aztec word for “Smoking Mountain.”, according to the Global Volcanism Program. It is the second-highest volcano in North America, measuring 17,802 feet in elevation.

Officials are so worried about a potential catastrophe, on Friday, they issued an early warning.

Northwest of Popocatepetl volcano and southwest of Guadalajara, the Colima volcano spewed a 1.8-mile high eruption only a couple of weeks ago. Some officials say there is a heightened danger of a large explosive eruption from Colima because it has been over 100 years since its last large eruption.

Heightened explosive activity at Colima has prompted evacuation preparations if the restlessness continues or increases.

Lava spewing out of Smoking Rock in 2013

Cimate-Volcano Connection

Scientists have shown that a rise in Earth’s temperatures during global warming is dangerously impacting volcanic activity globally. In the past, the scietnists reported in 2013, when ice melted, it triggered volcanic activity.

In the recent study a team of geologists examined samples of sea-floor mud from around the Ring of Fire for evidence of past eruptions. Analyzing the frequency of ash layers in the geological record, the researchers found a pattern: Large eruptions tended to occur once every 41,000 years. Random as that number may sound, it’s as familiar to paleoclimatologists as the moon’s 28ish-day cycle is to the rest of us: over the course of 41,000 years, the Earth tilts gradually forward, and then backward, on its axis. It’s called “Obliquity,” and it’s one of three “Milankovitch Cycles” that occur over long periods and influence Earth’s climate.

Ice can trigger a volcano as water shifts weight from ocean basin to land, and continents get compressed by miles-thick ice sheets sitting atop of them. When things warm, melting ice runs back into oceans, taking a great load off of continents. This movement pushes magma under the continents’ surface, the same way one end of a water balloon bulges when squeezing the other end, and a sudden decrease in pressure over the land might cause magma to surge upward from deep below.

The climate-volcano connection doesn’t apply to Earth’s current warming trend, of course, because we’re not in the middle of an ice age–it’s been 12,000 years since the world’s continents felt the weight of all that frozen water.