Mexico Officials See No Cause for Alarm in Volcano Shower
The Popocatepetl volcano belched a short-lived shower of glowing grit and ash before dawn Tuesday, frightening villagers living on the flanks of the mountain southeast of Mexico City.
But civil defense officials told the government news agency Notimex that the brief burst was no cause for alarm--only the latest of frequent rumblings by the volcano.
Civil defense spokesman Ramon Pena Melche said an inspection found no signs that the snow-topped volcano would erupt, but authorities met with villagers living nearby to review evacuation plans as a precaution.
Pena Melche also told Notimex that authorities were on the lookout for any change in activity in the volcano, 45 miles from downtown Mexico City.
“This was not lava,” Pena Melche said of the shower of incandescent material, which was hurled more than half a mile down the uppermost flanks of Popocatepetl.
The volcano has been in varying states of activity since December 1994, when it awoke from a decades-long sleep.
A series of gas explosions Thursday sent gas and ash 2 1/2 to 3 miles into the air.
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