Warning Issued After Mexican Volcano Erupts
Mexico’s government on Thursday warned people living in the shadow of Popocatepetl volcano to prepare to flee after the mountain spat out red-hot rocks in a strong late-night eruption.
An official at the Disaster Prevention Center’s monitoring station said the 17,992-foot snowcapped volcano 33 miles southeast of Mexico City spewed blazing rocks out of its crater at 10:20 p.m.
The rocks fell up to three miles away, and national broadcaster Televisa said a light rain of ash was falling on nearby villages.
After several days of intensified rumblings and modest exhalations of rock and ash, disaster prevention officials said a new lava cap could be forming in the crater of Popocatepetl, which the Aztecs called “smoking mountain.”
A full-scale eruption of the mountain would force the evacuation of at least 70,000 people who live within a 15-mile radius, but officials say it would pose no serious danger to Mexico City and its area’s 18 million inhabitants.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
