Mexico City’s Popocatépetl outbreak prompts temporary airport closure

OSVALDO CANTERO v AFP Glowing materials, ash and smoke are spewed from the Popocatepetl volcano in San Nicolas de los Ranchos, Puebla state, Mexico, May 20, 2023. (Photo by Osvaldo Cantero / AFP)

OSVALDO CANTERO v AFP

Glowing material, ash and smoke are spewed from the Popocatepetl volcano in San Nicolas de los Ranchos, Puebla state, Mexico, May 20, 2023.

Eruption – One of the world’s most active volcanoes has begun ejecting clouds of gas and ejecting ash thousands of feet above sea level. Mexico City’s Benito Juarez International Airport had to suspend its flights for a few hours this Saturday, May 20, as the Popocatépetl volcano, some 70 kilometers from the Mexican capital, was active again.

“We resumed take-off and landing operations from 10 a.m. (6 p.m. Paris),” the airport said on Facebook, adding that it had cleared the volcanic ash that had accumulated there from the runways. No plane could take off from the runway for four hours. The other Felipe Angeles International Airport (AIFA), which was inaugurated in 2022 in Mexico City’s larger suburbs, had also announced its temporary closure.

30 years awake

As you can see in the pictures belowAffectionately known as “El Popo,” the 17,000-foot (5,426-meter) volcano spews toxic fumes, ash, and glowing rocks. He awoke from a long sleep in 1994 and for 30 years his bouts of activity have been regular, ABC News notes.

JOSE CASTANARES / AFP The Popocatepetl volcano spews ash and smoke as seen from Puebal, Puebla state, Mexico, May 18, 2023. The Popocatepetl volcano, some 55 km from Mexico City, has recorded numerous low-intensity emanations in the past a couple of days. (Photo by JOSE CASTAÑARES / AFP)

JOSE CASTANARES v AFP

The Popocatepetl volcano spews ash and smoke out of Puebal, in the Mexican state of Puebla, on May 18, 2023.

Poesía volcánica a su glendor, no all day se repeate.. Other episodio eruptivo más quedará grabado en… https://t.co/WRJG98Ajil

— Alan M “🅰11en 〽️ax” (@AlMaXx8017)

See the tweet

| PERO QUE HERMOSO DON GOYO 🌋 | Una madrugada increíble #Popocatépetl Comparto estas fotografías amigos, es… https://t.co/oaUcVgpgdK

—diseloamerino (@diseloamerino)

See the tweet

In the video belowLet’s also note the proximity to residential homes, the volcano is only 72 kilometers southeast of Mexico City. “It looks like the volcano has woken up!” The planes can’t take off from DF airport because of the ash,” comments the netizen who filmed the sequence.

#Popocatepetl #DonGoyo #Erupcion #Ceniza Aguas! Because despertó el volcán! You can’t get off the planes… https://t.co/nS7jIvYiuh

— Raymundo Cruz (@raymundocruzmx)

See the tweet

The Popocatépetl is therefore monitored by scientists 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, as its activity poses a risk to the surrounding populations. Six cameras, a thermal imaging device and twelve seismological monitoring stations are constantly in use around its summit and transmit their information to a command center in Mexico City.

Mexico’s second-tallest volcano erupted fumaroles and glowing material on Friday evening and into early Saturday morning, according to the Mexican Civil Protection Agency. 11 villages have suspended classes for school children.

See also on The HuffPost:

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