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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 updateTue, 23 Apr 2013, 10:15 10:15 AM | BY: TOMPFEIFFER  View of Popocatepetl's glowing summit crater this morning
Activity continues with no significant changes: weak emissions of steam/gas/ash occur at rates of approx. once per hour, and glow at night shows that magma continues to arrive slowly in the summit crater. Previous newsActivity has decreased to about one emission of gas/steam/minor amounts of ash per hour over the past few days. Glow remains visible at night from the crater. ... read allA stronger-then-usual explosion occurred last night (23:23 h local time) and produced a plume of ash rising about 2 km above the crater. Incandescent fragments were thrown to distances of 900 m. ... read allActivity has dropped a bit but remains essentially unchanged. CENPRED reported 1-2 emissions of steam and minor ash amounts per hour today, a steam and gas plume rising up to 1 km as well as continuing glow at the crater. ... read allThe volcano remains in a state of elevated activity. Phases of medium to strong tremor occurred this morning at the volcano, although these were not associated by significant changes in the current observed activity: CENAPRED reported near-continuous degassing / steaming, and 35 emissions over the past 24 hours, the strongest of which ejected incandescent fragments out of the crater and produced small ash plumes rising up to 1.5 km height above the crater. read allAnother, but weaker episode of strong volcanic tremor and near-continuous emissions occurred yesterday at 15:50 (local time), creating a plume of steam, gas and ash rising 900 m and drifting NE. After a few hours, activity decreased again to individual small explosions at a rate of about 1 per hour, such as one captured on the webcam a few minutes ago. ... 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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