Popocatépetl, the nearly 18,000 foot volcano straddling the border of Puebla and Moreno states in central Mexico, has started a series of small eruptions, which could presage something more violent. And that could be a serious problem, since it's the second highest peak in Mexico, looming above the plain about 40 miles east of Mexico City within sight of about 30 million people. For the last 11 days, it has been venting gasses and tossing rocks as far as a mile from its cone.
Mexico's National Center for Disaster Prevention (CENAPRED) registered "62 expulsions of medium intensity, with the emission of water vapor, gas, ashes, and glowing rocks," between last Thursday night and Friday alone, according to Discovery News.
NASA's Geostationary Operational Environmental satellite, the GOES-13, captured a short video of gas and ash flowing from the volcano.
Mexican authorities have set up shelters to gather residents for evacuation, should that become necessary. Local residents have begun wearing paper filtering masks.
Popocatépetl, whose name comes from the Nahautl for "smoking mountain," sits six miles above a 35 million cubic foot magma chamber and is connected by a saddle to another volcano, Iztaccíhuatl. Since the arrival of the Spanish in the 16th century, it has erupted over a dozen times, including an expulsion of hot rock in 2000 that forced the evacuation of tens of thousands.
At a press conference, CENAPRED Director Roberto Quaas told reporters, including the Washington Post,that "scientists have no way of predicting whether the molten rock in the chamber will be slowly released, or erupt in a powerful explosion."
In addition to the threat to people in the path of any potential explosion, the havoc it would cause in Mexico City (one of the world's largest cities) could be tremendous.
The 1980 eruption of Mt. St. Helens in Washington State brought Spokane, a city of 200,000 located 350 miles away from the volcano, to a stand-still for months. It clogged the streets with ash that would cloud whole blocks with the passing of a single car. The eruption caused respiratory problems, limited air traffic, and damaged vehicle engines beyond use.
By comparison, Mexico City, the country's capital, has a population of nine million and is 40 miles away from Popocatépetl. A major explosion would shut down, or at least severely curtail the efficiency of, every governmental function, from law-making to law enforcement to communications and trade.
For now, however, few measures are being taken. State officials told the Latin American Herald Tribune that the parade to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Puebla, including an estimated 12,000 student marchers, is planned to go on as scheduled on May 5th in that city.
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