• Mexico's Popocatepetl volcano rumbles through a starry, starry night

    Yuri Cortez / AFP - Getty Images

    Incandescent materials, ashes and smoke are spewed from the Popocatepetl Volcano in Santiago Xalitzintla, in the Mexican central state of Puebla, on April 26, 2012.

    Residents at the foot of Mexico's Popocatepetl volcano no longer sleep soundly since the towering mountain roared back into action two weeks ago, spewing out a hail of rocks, steam and ashes, Agence France Presse reports.

    The volcano, Mexico's second highest peak at 5,452 meters, started rumbling and spurting high clouds of ash and steam on April 13, provoking the authorities to raise the alert to level five on a seven-point scale.

    A ghostly image captured by a NASA satellite, below, shows the erupting volcano at night, OurAmazingPlanet.com reports. It's a thermal image, snapped at 10:53 p.m. local time on Wednesday. The lighter areas are warmer, the darker areas cooler. The white dot in the center of the image is a hotspot within the volcano's summit crater. 

    Jesse Allen / NASA Earth Observatory

    NASA's Terra satellite captured this nighttime view of the Popocatépetl volcano eruption at 10:53 p.m. local time (04:53 Universal Time) on April 25, 2012.

    Take a look at more photos of the Popocatepetl volcano on PhotoBlog.

  • Popocatepetl volcano in Mexico rumbles as authorities raise alert level

    Jose Casta-ares / AFP - Getty Images

    Ash and smoke are spewed from Popocatepetl Volcano as seen from the city of Puebla, in the Mexican central state of Puebla, on April 18. Residents of nearby communities reported roaring noises from the Popocatepetl volcano near Mexico City on Tuesday after signs of increased activity prompted authorities to raise alert levels.

    Imelda Medina / Reuters

    A boy helps another adjust his surgical mask, which were handed out by the Red Cross, in San Nicolas de los Ranchos April 17. A powerful plume of steam and ash rose from the Popocatepetl volcano in central Mexico on Tuesday, prompting local schools to cancel classes and emergency teams to prepare for evacuations. Mexico's National Center for Disaster Prevention raised the alert level for the 5,450-meter (17,900-foot) Popocatepetl, which lies some 50 miles to the southeast of Mexico City, late on Monday.

    Francisco Guasco / EPA

    View of a shelter in Santiago Xalitzintla, in the Mexican state of Puebla, prepared due to an alert status phase three issued by the National Center for Prevention of Disasters on April 17. According to the National Center for Prevention of Disasters, the volcano Popocatepetl has spewed some ash emissions and sproadic explosions of low and moderate level.

    Imelda Medina / Reuters

    The Popocatepetl volcano spews a cloud of ash and steam high into the air, as seen from San Nicolas de los Ranchos, on the outskirts of Puebla April 18. A powerful plume of steam and ash rose from the Popocatepetl volcano in central Mexico on Tuesday, prompting local schools to cancel classes and emergency teams to prepare for evacuations. Mexico's National Center for Disaster Prevention raised the alert level for the 5,450-meter (17,900-foot) Popocatepetl, which lies some 50 miles to the southeast of Mexico City, late on Monday.

     

    From Reuters: SAN PEDRO BENITO JUAREZ, Mexico — A powerful plume of steam and ash rose from the Popocatepetl volcano in central Mexico on Tuesday, prompting local schools to cancel classes and emergency teams to prepare for evacuations.

    The volcano's lava dome started to expand on Friday, suggesting fresh magma may be pushing upwards. It spewed red-hot fragments and lightly dusted cars and streets in some small towns in the state of Puebla, television images showed.

    Popocatepetl, which lies some 50 miles to the southeast of Mexico City, pumped out a cloud of hot air and particles in an emission lasting about 20 minutes on Tuesday. "It sounded like a loud cauldron releasing steam," said Reuters cameraman Roberto Ramirez. 

     For the latest on the Popocatepetl volcano click here.

     

  • Francisco Guasco / EPA

    A smoke cloud from the Popocatepetl volcano is seen from the town of San Andres Cholula, Mexico, on April 16, 2012. The volcano has been emitting gas and water vapor between 500 and 1000 meters in height according to a report from the National Center for Disaster Prevention.

    Mexico raises alert for Popocatepetl volcano

    Reuters reports — Mexican authorities raised the alert level for the Popocatepetl volcano near to Mexico City on Monday after it started spewing red-hot fragments of rock.

    The lava dome of Popocatepetl, some 50 miles to the southeast of the capital, started to expand on Friday, Mexico's National Center for Disaster Prevention said.

    This change in activity in the 5,450 meter (17,900 foot) volcano could provoke big explosions capable of sending incandescent fragments out over considerable distances, as well as ash showers, the center said in a statement. Read more.

  • Mexico volcano spews gas into skies near capital

    Popocatepetl belching a column of steam looms over residents of Xalitzintla municipality in Puebla on Wednesday.

    By msnbc.com staff and news services

    Mexico's Popocatepetl volcano has been spewing gas, water vapor and incandescent materials into the skies near the country's capital for days, registering at least 14 "exhalations" late on Wednesday and in the early hours of Thursday, according to local media.

    The most significant emissions came on Tuesday afternoon and were accompanied by a small quantity of ash, scientists said, according to Excelsior newspaper reported  (Link in Spanish).

    Local civil protection officials have been giving evacuation training in communities near Popocatepetl ahead of a possible eruption, Reuters reported.

    The 17,886-foot volcano 40 miles southeast of the Mexican capital is the country's second-highest peak and has experienced at least 15 major eruptions in the last 500 years.

    In November, Popocatepetl spewed a burst of ash three miles into the air after breaking through a dome of lava.  The volcano has been erupting intermittently since December 1994.

    The Associated Press, Reuters and msnbc.com staff contributed to this report.

    More from msnbc.com and NBC News:

     

  • Tourists visit bubbling mud volcano in Iran

    Abedin Taherkenareh / EPA

    A picture made available on Friday shows an Iranian tourist visiting the historic mud volcano called Gel-Afshan in the city of Chabahar in south-eastern Iran. A natural phenomenon of gas rising from the depths of the earth raises a hill of mud over time.

    Abedin Taherkenareh / EPA

    Tourists climb the mud volcano called Gel-Afshan.

    Abedin Taherkenareh / EPA

    A close-up view of bubbling mud.

    By John Brecher

    Much of the photography reaching us from Iran focuses on matters of political conflict, so these images of a curious geological site are a pleasant change.

  • Eruption at snow-covered Mount Etna

    Antonio Parrinello / Reuters

    Mount Etna spews volcanic ash during an eruption on the southern Italian island of Sicily on Jan. 5, 2012. Mount Etna is Europe's tallest and most active volcano.

    Mount Etna erupted on Thursday for the first time in 2012, forcing the temporary closure of Sicily's busiest airport, the Italian news agency ANSA reports. Europe's tallest active volcano spewed spectacular fountains of lava and sent up a plume of black smoke rising 5,000 meters (16,400 feet) above sea level. That prompted authorities to limit air traffic to Sicily's Catania Airport until midday, ANSA reported. Etna erupted 18 times during 2011, according to Italy's National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology. 

    See more volcano eruptions on PhotoBlog.

    Sicily's Mount Etna has erupted, marking its first eruption in weeks. Msnbc.com's Dara Brown reports.

  • 'Cold lava flood' kills villagers near Indonesia volcano

    By msnbc.com staff and news services

    Fast-moving mudflows streaming from the mouth of a volcano killed four villagers in eastern Indonesia, officials said Wednesday. 

    About 1,000 other people have fled their homes.

    Mount Gamalama, located in the Molucca Islands, sprang back to life this month with a powerful, non-fatal eruption.

    Government spokesman Yusuf Sunnya said Wednesday that days of heavy rains triggered flows of cold lava, rocks and other debris that slammed into villages Tuesday night.

    He said four people were killed and more than a dozen others were hospitalized with injuries ranging from broken bones to head wounds.

    The Jakarta Post described the deadly incident as a "cold lava flood."

    Provincial spokesman Andi Arief said the cold lava slides destroyed several houses in the villages.

    "Initial data cited that three people died, while many other residents (were) evacuated to a school building and the former North Maluku governor's office," Andi said in a statement.

    Indonesia is a vast archipelago with millions of people living on mountains or near fertile flood plains. Seasonal downpours here often cause landslides.

    The Associated Press and msnbc.com staff contributed to this report.

Newer posts