On the borders of the State of Mexico, Morelos and Puebla, the Popocatepetl volcano keeps the 25 million people who live at its feet in suspense. This Tuesday continues to release gases and ashes that reached several locations in the center of the country. The yellow alert level was raised from phase 2 to phase 3, thestep prior to the high danger warning. And they issued recommendations to avoid "ballistic fragments" and eventual "lava flows."
"In the last 24 hours, through the monitoring systems of the Popocatépetl volcano, 22 exhalations accompanied by water vapor, volcanic gases and ash were detected. Additionally, 1,234 minutes of tremor and two explosions were recorded," said the National Center for Disaster Prevention.
"CENAPRED urges NOT TO APPROACH the volcano and especially the crater, because of the danger involved in the fall of ballistic fragments," they said from the agency. The exclusion radius is 12 kilometers.
The Popocatepetl volcano is still active in Puebla (Mexico). Photo EFE
"CENAPRED emphatically reiterates the recommendation NOT TO ASCEND to the crater of the volcano, since there is the possibility of explosions, as has been seen on several occasions in the past, involving the emission of incandescent fragments. So it insists on respecting the exclusion radius of 12 km, "continued the Center.
"Also in case of heavy rains, move away from the bottoms of ravines because of the danger of mud and debris flows," CENAPRED added.
Ash from the Popocatepetl volcano falls on Atlixco, Mexico. AP Photo
Three days ago,fumaroles forced the temporary suspension of operations at the two airports serving Mexico City.
"Its intensity has dropped, the ash it emits is also less (...), we are pending day and night, that there is no alarm, we are watching," President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said earlier.
"Take out and take out fire", the testimony of the neighbors of the Popocatépetl volcano
"Last night I slept a little better because the other three days the house vibrated the windows, the door and then the noise as if it alarmed," said Tuesday Francisca de los Santos, 56, in the town of Santiago Xalitzintla, in the state of Puebla, where ash fall is recorded.
With face masks to prevent respiratory diseases due to inhalation of this material, the woman, like most inhabitants of the region surrounding "Popo", does not plan to leave her home.
"We are used to it, but it always scares us a little" because "it was out and I took fire," he added, alluding to the incandescence that is appreciated at night.
The neighbors of the Popocatépetl volcano wear masks because of the abundance of ash in the air. AP Photo
The volcano increased its activity last Friday night with exhalations and moderate explosions, accompanied by ash emission and incandescent fragments in the vicinity of the crater.
As a result, operations were suspended for a few hours at Benito Juarez and Felipe Angeles airports, as well as in Puebla, the region most affected by the ash.
The Popocatepetl eruptive process was reactivated in December 1994. The increase in alert forced authorities and relief agencies to prepare personnel, evacuation teams and shelters in the event of an emergency.
With information from AFP.
DS
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