Volcano warning: Popocatepetl could erupt after Mexico City earthquake
The 5,426-metre high Popocatepetl volcano is the most active in Mexico, with more than 15 major eruptions reported since 1519. But the volcano, which is also referred to by Mexicans as El Popo, is now causing other problems in the region as neighbours report rivers of mud flowing from the skirt of the mountain following a recent mini eruption. Experts at geological news service Sismologia Mundial reported the plume as a "mild eruption" and confirmed Popocatepetl is now "normal". READ MORE: Mexico volcano on BRINK of eruption - Three blasts EXPLODE out of Popocatepetl in TWO hours But now neighbours have warned large rivers of mud from the volcano have flowed into the streets over the last three days, reaching the municipalities of Atlautla and Ozumba.
GETTY Mexico volcano: Residents fear Popocatepetl could erupt
María de los Ángeles Ibáñez, a neighbour of San Juan Tehuixtitlan, said: “We are afraid. There are times when it comes with more strength and it rumbles, it is not a normal river.” Ladislao Rocha Martínez, head of Civil Protection in Atlautla, said that since yesterday the Civil Protection of the State of Mexico reported that "there was an avalanche of black mud." And residents say they are unable to sleep at night, as they are fearful the plague of mud could be a sign an explosion is imminent. One neighbour said: “I live in a two-storey house and it has one or two fractures. The authorities came to see it, they said it was safe to live inside. “But I no longer feel safe, for fear of another earthquake or a volcano eruption.”
Popocatépetl volcano's past eruptions, in pictures Fri, October 6, 2017 Popocatépetl is an active volcano, located in the states of Puebla, Mexico, and Morelos, in Central Mexico Play slideshow AFP/Getty Images 1 of 7 Ash spew from Mexico's Popocatepetl volcano, some 55 km from Mexico City, as seen from San Mateo Ozolco, in the Mexican central state of Puebla, on July 4, 2013
On 19 September a deadly 7.1 magnitude earthquake that struck Mexico City and triggered a volcanic eruption. The Popocatepetl volcano burst into life at the same time as the earthquake, which killed at least 248 people, and sent plumes of thick, black smoke into the sky. And during the eruption a church collapsed during mass, killing 15 people, in Atzitzihuacan on the slopes of the volcano, Puebla Governor Jose Antonio Gali said. The landslides after the earthquake created a dam, which with the constant rains has been washed away, dragging tons of mud to the lower parts, especially in Nexpayantla. Since the earthquake, the neighbours of these communities, the most affected ones, say they can no longer sleep peacefully as they fear what could happen.
GETTY The volcano is also referred to by Mexicans as El Popo
GETTY Popocatépetl volcano recorded 11 low-intensity exhalations and three explosions