Mexico volcano spews ash on towns yellow Phase alert Mass evacuation preparations underway

Joel 2:30-31

³⁰ “And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth— blood and fire and pillars of .

³¹ The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come.

volcano spews ash on towns yellow Phase alert

MEXICO CITY: Mexico’s spewed a new column of ash late Tuesday, with some of the material falling on three towns while glowing rocks landed on the towering mountain’s slope.

The volcano, known locally as “Popo” and “Don Goyo,” belched out a cloud of ash that rose four kilometres (2.5 miles) above its crater at 8:21 pm (0121 GMT Wednesday), according to the National Disaster Prevention Center.

The ministry said “light quantities of ash” dropped on , a Mexico state community at the foot of the volcano, and the towns of and in the , some 23 kilometres away.

Molten rocks were thrown one kilometre away, landing on the volcano’s northern slope.

The smoke was blowing toward the northeast. is 55 kilometres (34 miles) northwest of Popocatepetl.

The volcano had already spewed some ash and rocks Tuesday morning but a senior official later reported that it had calmed down. The disaster prevention centre reported low-level activity later on, including a 40-minute low-intensity tremor.

The 5,452-metre (17,887-foot) high volcano has been rumbling and spewing steam, ash and rocks sporadically for days, prompting authorities to raise the alert level and prepare for possible evacuations last weekend.

Last week, Popocatepetl covered several towns in ash, including the capital of Puebla.

Authorities have raised the alert level to “Yellow Phase Three,” the fifth of a seven-stage warning system, restricting access to an area of 12 kilometres (7.5 miles) around the volcano while preparing evacuation routes and shelters

A farmer plows the land in near the Popocatepetl Volcano, Mexico’s second highest peak on May 14, 2013. The volcano has spewed a new column of ash, with some of the material falling on three towns while glowing rocks landed on the towering mountain’s slope.