Unlike earthquakes, warning times can be longer for the volcano and in general the peak is more predictable. Being able to warn of an impending ash cloud is key, because people can take precautions. Ringed around its summit are six cameras, a thermal imaging device and 12 seismological monitoring stations that operate 24 hours a day, all reporting back to an equipment-filled command center in Mexico City.Ī total of 13 scientists from a multidisciplinary team take turns staffing the command center around the clock. A severe eruption could cut off air traffic, or smother the city in clouds of choking ash.
The city also faces threats from earthquakes and sinking soil, but the volcano is the most visible potential danger - and the most closely watched. The volcano is 45 miles (72 kilometers) southeast of Mexico City, but looms much closer to the eastern fringes of the metropolitan area of 22 million people. Popocatepetl rumbled to life again this third week of May 2023, spewing out towering clouds of ash that forced 11 villages to cancel school sessions. FILE - A plume of ash and steam rises from the Popocatepetl volcano, as seen from Mexico City, Wednesday, June 19, 2019. The 17,797-foot (5,426-meter) volcano, known affectionately as “El Popo,” has been spewing toxic fumes, ash and lumps of incandescent rock persistently for almost 30 years, since it awakened from a long slumber in 1994. Every time there is a sigh, tic or heave in Popocatepetl, there are dozens of scientists, a network of sensors and cameras, and a roomful of powerful equipment watching its every move. The residents weren’t the only ones keeping a close eye on the towering peak. MEXICO CITY (AP) - Mexico’s Popocatepetl volcano rumbled to life again this week, belching out towering clouds of ash that forced 11 villages to cancel school sessions.
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