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 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: Popocatépetl Volcano Special (tour to see the ongoing eruption of Mexico's most active volcano)
Popocatepetl volcano news & eruption updatePopocatépetl volcano (Central Mexico) activity updateFri, 8 Mar 2013, 09:58 09:58 AM | BY: T  Current seismic signal from Popocatépetl
Ash emissions continue. A plume rises to at about 27,000 ft (7 km) altitude (or approx. 1500 m above the crater) and drifts east. The seismic signal shows numerous volcanic quakes, but less tremor. Glow can be seen on webcam images. Previous newsA phase of increased activity has just started at Popocatépetl. Accompanied by strong tremor, a continuous ash and steam emission column is rising to 23,000 ft (7 km) altitude and drifting NW. ... read allActivity remains stable. The volcano produces on average about 1 emission per hour, sometimes with small ash plumes. Glow remains visible at night. ... read allThe volcano was producing a constant plume of steam and gas drifting to the southeast, interrupted by a few small to moderately sized ash explosions such as the attached image from yesterday morning. read allWhile the rate of gas-steam(-ash) emissions remains low, the intensity of some of them and overall degassing activity have increased. A strong SO2 plume and some emission tremor are visible on current satellite and seismic data. ... read allNo significant changes in activity have occurred. The rate of steam-gas emissions has risen to almost 2 per hour, with some producing small puffs of ash. read allBackground: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
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