In the last 24 hours, the Popocatépetl volcano emitted 143 exhalations, one explosion, and 1,012 minutes (16 hours, 52 minutes) of tremor. This was reported by the National Center for Disaster Prevention ( Cenapred ) in its report published on Wednesday, April 15.
The exhalations were of volcanic gases accompanied by ash in which it averages 1,400 tons of sulfur dioxide per day.
The explosion, which occurred at 06:42 hours (Central Mexico time), was moderate in nature and featured a short distance ejection of fragments from the crater. The explosions have gone down, since on April 9, 10 and 11 there were two explosions on each of those days consecutively.
The tremor, a natural phenomenon caused by the displacement of magma in the earth, a volcanotectonic earthquake was recorded at 19:32 (central Mexico time) on Tuesday, April 14 with magnitude 2.1. At the time of this report, the constant emission of volcanic gases and light amounts of ash that are dispersed heading northeast was observed.
The tremor, in addition, was recorded for longer than any other day of the month, since the maximum recorded had been an average of 500 minutes on April 1, 5 and 14. This can translate into a larger amount of magma moving around in the area.
With the accumulation of these data, volcanic experts assure that the Popocatépetl Volcanic Alert Traffic Light remains in Yellow Phase 2. This means that Cenapred urges not to approach the volcano or the crater, due to the danger of falling ballistic fragments and, in case of heavy rains, to move away from the bottom of ravines due to the danger of mud and debris flows generated by the explosions.
