"Popo" Explodes

Just in case my readers up north heard news reports that Popocatépetl, the volcano located 43 miles from Mexico City, exploded yesterday morning, let me assure you that we are not going through a reenactment of "The Last Days of Pompeii" here.

I didn't know anything about the eruption until this afternoon when I passed by a newsstand and saw this dramatic photo on the front page of the local daily "La Jornada".

I bought a copy of the paper to read the details.  At 6:31 A.M. on Thursday, "Popo" erupted sending a plume of water vapor, volcanic gas and a moderate amount of ash three kilometers (1.9 miles) into the air.  Some incandescent material was thrown as far as a kilometer from the crater.  As is often the case, the prevailing winds blew the plume toward Puebla on the other side of the mountain.  (The photo above was shot from the city of Puebla.)  A few villages in the state of Puebla reported a light fall of ash.  The Civil Protection Agency said that the event was "within the normal scenarios" and that there was nothing to worry about.