A drone from the Minister of the Navy (SEMAR) has flown over the crater of the Popocatépetl volcano to monitor activity over the past few hours. In its last information bulletin this Thursday afternoon, the National Civil Protection Coordination maintained the yellow traffic light, phase 3, of the alert and instructed the population to observe precautionary measures. According to the report, Popocatépetl continued to transmit a tremor signal (the continuous seismic signal that records volcanic activity) “whose amplitude continues to decrease” without registering new explosions.
The images taken by the SEMAR drone show how Popocatépetl continuously spits out large columns of steam and ash. In addition, the camera’s temperature technology allows it to distinguish some deposits of incandescent material and heat concentrations inside the colossus.
According to monitoring systems, 19 vapors containing water vapour, volcanic gases and ash have been detected in the past 24 hours. There were 1,089 minutes of high-frequency, low- to medium-amplitude tremors with a continuous ejection of gas, water vapor, and ash.
About 7,000 soldiers were mobilized in the states of Puebla, Morelos and Mexico if evacuation of the surrounding population should become necessary. Classes have been suspended in 40 communities and a 12-kilometer safety perimeter has been set up around the volcano. Scientists call for calm: This episode is not an isolated one, it has happened many times and recent history indicates that the volcano will stabilize at high levels of activity and ash ejection without a dramatic eruption.
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