Contact | RSS | EN | DE | EL | ES | FR | IT | RU

Popocatépetl volcano, Central Mexico: news & activity updates

Updated: Mar 28, 2024 17:35 GMT-

Popocatepetl volcano (Central Mexico) activity update

Wed, 31 Oct 2012, 11:05
In the last 24 h during 29-30 Oct, there were 38 exhalations of low to moderate intensity, accompanied by emissions of steam, gas and occasionally minor amounts of ash. Read all

Popocatepetl volcano (Mexico) - Smithsonian / USGS Weekly Volcanic Activity Report for 31 October-6 November 2012 (Continuing Activity)

Wed, 31 Oct 2012, 06:00
CENAPRED reported that during 31 October-6 November seismicity at Popocatépetl indicated continuing gas-and-steam emissions that contained ash. Incandescence from the crater was observed at night. Cloud cover often prevented observations; gas-and-steam plumes were observed drifting E and NE during periods of clearer weather. Read all
Show more

Background:

Volcán Popocatépetl, whose name is the Aztec word for smoking mountain, towers to 5426 m 70 km SE of Mexico City to form North America's 2nd-highest volcano.  The glacier-clad stratovolcano contains a steep-walled, 250-450 m deep crater.  The generally symmetrical volcano is modified by the sharp-peaked Ventorrillo on the NW, a remnant of an earlier volcano. 
At least three previous major cones were destroyed by gravitational failure during the Pleistocene, producing massive debris-avalanche deposits covering broad areas south of the volcano.  The modern volcano was constructed to the south of the late-Pleistocene to Holocene El Fraile cone.  Three major plinian eruptions, the most recent of which took place about 800 AD, have occurred from Popocatépetl since the mid Holocene, accompanied by pyroclastic flows and voluminous lahars that swept basins below the volcano.  Frequent historical eruptions, first recorded in Aztec codices, have occurred since precolumbian time.


---


Source: GVP, Smithsonian Institution - Popocatepetl information


Satellite images of Popocatepetl volcano (c)Google Earth View
Satellite images of Popocatepetl volcano (c)Google Earth View
Stratovolcano 5426 m / 17,802 ft
Central Mexico, 19.02°N / -98.62°W
Current status: erupting (4 out of 5) Popocatépetl volcano eruptions:
1345-47, 1354, 1363(?), 1488, 1504, 1509(?), 1512, 1518, 1519-23(?), 1528, 1530, 1539-40, 1542, 1548, 1571, 1580, 1590, 1592-94, 1642, 1663-65, 1666-67, 1697, 1720, 1802-04, 1827(?), 1834(?), 1852(?), 1919-22, 1923-24, 1925-27(?), 1933, 1942-43, 1947, 1994-95, 1996-2003, 2004-ongoing
Typical eruption style
Dominantly explosive, construction of lava domes. Plinian eruptions at intervals of several centuries or few thousands of years, vulcanian and strombolian activity in intermittent phases.
Popocatépetl Volcano Tours
tour to see the ongoing eruption of Mexico's most active volcano
6 days / 5 nights - Easy
Price 1650 €
no scheduled dates at present