Popocatepetl spews gas and ash
- 12 years ago
ROUGH CUT - NO REPORTER NARRATION
Mexico's famed Popocatepetl continues to spew columns of ash and gas into the air.
Nearly a week after since authorities raised an alert level due to greater activity at the towering volcano, residents in nearby towns are getting on with their daily lives as they become used to El Popo's rumblings.
Six days on and no respite from the daily ash clouds and gases spewing into the atmosphere, some residents in the small town of Santiago Xalitzintla are becoming jittery.
One volcano monitor for Puebla state's civil protection department admitted local towns surrounding Popocatepetl are facing some risk.
Mexico's National Centre for Disaster Prevention raised the alert level for Popocatepetl last week indicating possible magma expulsion and explosions of increasing intensity. It is the third-highest warning on the centre's seven-step scale.
However, some long-term residents of the rural town remain unfazed by the official warnings and El Popo's increased activity saying they have seen it before.
"Popo," as the volcano is commonly known, has spat out mile-high clouds of ash and smoke several times this year. Its last major eruption took place in 2000, just one week shy of Christmas Day.
Mexico's famed Popocatepetl continues to spew columns of ash and gas into the air.
Nearly a week after since authorities raised an alert level due to greater activity at the towering volcano, residents in nearby towns are getting on with their daily lives as they become used to El Popo's rumblings.
Six days on and no respite from the daily ash clouds and gases spewing into the atmosphere, some residents in the small town of Santiago Xalitzintla are becoming jittery.
One volcano monitor for Puebla state's civil protection department admitted local towns surrounding Popocatepetl are facing some risk.
Mexico's National Centre for Disaster Prevention raised the alert level for Popocatepetl last week indicating possible magma expulsion and explosions of increasing intensity. It is the third-highest warning on the centre's seven-step scale.
However, some long-term residents of the rural town remain unfazed by the official warnings and El Popo's increased activity saying they have seen it before.
"Popo," as the volcano is commonly known, has spat out mile-high clouds of ash and smoke several times this year. Its last major eruption took place in 2000, just one week shy of Christmas Day.