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Popocatépetl volcano (Central Mexico) activity update

Wed, 23 Sep 2015, 11:05 | BY: T
CENAPRED reported that during 16-22 September the seismic network at Popocatépetl recorded 15-89 daily emissions consisting of water vapor, gas, and sometimes ash; cloud cover often prevented visual observations.
Variable nighttime or morning crater incandescence was observed most days, and 1-13 daily explosions were registered. The Alert Level remained at Yellow, Phase Two.

Previous news

Wed, 16 Sep 2015, 06:00

Popocatepetl volcano (Mexico) - Smithsonian / USGS Weekly Volcanic Activity Report for 16 September-22 September 2015 (Continuing Activity)

CENAPRED reported that during 16-22 September the seismic network at Popocatépetl recorded 15-89 daily emissions consisting of water vapor, gas, and sometimes ash; cloud cover often prevented visual observations. Variable nighttime or morning crater incandescence was observed most days, and 1-13 daily explosions were registered. The Alert Level remained at Yellow, Phase Two. ... Read all
Tue, 18 Aug 2015, 13:59

Popocatépetl volcano (Central Mexico) activity update

Glow from Popocatépetl at night during a phase of more vigorous degassing
Activity at the volcano, relatively low at the moment, has remained more or less unchanged. Lava is slowly being extruded in the inner summit crater and occasionally produces small explosions and less vigorous degassing events ("exhalations"). ... Read all
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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.


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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.
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