Popocatépetl volcano: this was his last violent eruption

Since March 18th the volcano Popocatépetl in Mexico has entered a constant activity who took this Thursday to change the warning light from yellow phase two to yellow phase three.

It's him second most active volcano from the country and is located about 72 kilometers southeast of Mexico City. It is located in the states of Mexico, Puebla and Morelos.

In case of eruption would affect 18 municipalities, among which Amecameca, Ycapixtla, Cuautla, Zacualpan, Cholula and Atlixco.

The fiery colossus Woke up almost 19 years ago, the last time he recorded a so-called "violent eruption", it was December 18 and 19, 2000.

According to reports of the Civil Protection, in the afternoon of December 18 this year, the volcano erupted while he was throwing a large amount of incandescent stones who has reached one meter in diameter, that caused Evacuation of thousands of peopleonas in the state of Puebla.

Preventive evacuation of its inhabitants began on the night of December 15th. The state and municipal authorities made the decision to choose the villages to evacuate, which resulted in the evacuation of some populations outside the safety radius of 13 km, according to mayors. Near 41,000 people they left the area. About 14,000 agreed to be transported to shelters, where they stayed up to 10 days.

The volcano is located within the boundaries of three states (Video: TV Azteca)

After a period of relative calm for three days on December 18 afternoon started a new eruption. That and those recorded the next day were not very explosive, but long-lasting and with large amounts of incandescent fragments.

Roberto Qubad, then director of the National Center for Disaster Protection (Cenapred), informed the media that several hours before the eruption, the colossus I had registered tremors to those who have followed two episodes of incandescent material ejection.

"The gas force broke the crater lava dome, which had reached 16 million cubic meters in just 19 hours," Qubad said. Scientists were concerned that the heat from the incandescent material would melt the snow that covered the upper part, which would have caused flooding in the surrounding area, as well as avalanches of mud and stones.

The evacuation of the inhabitants was carried out by members of the army who gave them gas masks avoid damage to health caused by volcanic ash. After December 19, the activity decreased.

"Don Goyo"or the Popo, as it was called in the country, had erupted in December 1994 when he had launched large amounts of glowing material. He recorded minor activity episodes in 1997 and 1998.

Historical data of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) indicates that the colossus has a height of 5,400 meters, the first eruption that you have saved it was in the year 900 After Jesus Christ. This was followed by eruptions in the fourteenth, sixteenth, seventeenth, eighteenth, nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

After decades in which he remained "asleep", he resumed his activity in December 1994, after throwing lava and stones and forced evacuate about 75,000 inhabitants surrounding communities.

Since then, Popocatépetl has remained unstable, with episodes alarming the population in 1997 and 1998. In November 1998, the volcano also launched incandescent materials within a radius of one kilometer and a half.