Mexican Volcano Popocatepetl Erupts Outside of Mexico City; Shuts Down Airport
MEXICO - Mexico’s Popocatépetl has erupted this past Monday morning 50 miles outside of Mexico City, blanketing the city in ash and shutting down the city’s airport. 25 million people live within a 62 mile radius from the volcano between Mexico City and the city of Puebla.
The Daily Mail reports that the Puebla International Airport was shut down from 7 AM until 1 PM local time. National Coordinator Luis Felipe Puente noted that locals should not attempt to approach the volcano, tweeting on Monday, “It is important to respect the security radius of 12 kilometers (seven and a half miles) due to the danger of incandescent fragments being emitted.”
WATCH: Mexico's Popocatepetl volcano explodes, spews ash on nearby towns https://t.co/WJwU73vmAvhttps://t.co/dPdzvceYTm
— ABC7 Eyewitness News (@ABC7) April 19, 2016
Popocatepetl’s eruptions happen fairly frequently, and we have recently reported on one eruption at the beginning of this month and another at the end of March. The grit and ash can damage cars, plane engines, and lungs, according to The Guardian. Watch a video of the eruption for yourself above.
According to the Associated Press, the eruption that began around 2:30 AM CDT Monday morning spewed ash as high as three miles above the crater, and volcanic rock as high as one mile. The volcano is Mexico’s second-largest mountain, standing at a height of 17,797-feet.
La ceniza hay que barrerla y depositarla en bolsas. Hay potencial de lluvias en Puebla: drenaje puede taparse. pic.twitter.com/DCCmlTDlRU
— Volcán Popocatépetl (@Popocatepetl_MX) April 18, 2016
As of now, no damage to agriculture has been noted by the country, but travel has been postponed due to closed roads and airports. For more on the possible effects of this volcano as information is released, keep watching AndNowUKnow.