Residents Allowed Back Near Volcano

Authorities gave tens of thousands of people permission to return to their homes near Mexico’s Popocatepetl volcano but warned them to remain on alert. The announcement spelled the end of an evacuation that began Dec. 15, when scientists detected alarming tremors beneath the 17,887-foot mountain about 40 miles southeast of Mexico City. On Dec. 18, Popocatepetl produced its most violent eruption in 1,200 years, though it caused no injuries. After a relatively quiet week, the volcano spewed ash and hurled fragments of red-hot rock as far as half a mile from the crater early Tuesday. Scientists said such eruptions could continue over the coming weeks.