The Mexican National Centre for Disaster Prevention reported an eruption on Mount Popocatépetl, a stratovolcano (cone shaped volcano made up of layers of ash and lava) in the central part of the country, on Sunday 12 June 2016. This began with the appearance of incandescent (glowing material) in the crater of the volcano overnight, followed by a series of smaller eruptions and a larger event slightly after 11.15 am local time, which produced an ash column
which rose 3 km over the summit of the volcano.
Ash column over Mount Popocatépetl on 12 June 2016. Chuy Torres/Twitter/Earth of Fire.
Major eruptions on Popocatépetl are a cause for concern as the volcano
is in a densely populated area, with 30 million people living within the
potential hazard zone. The last major eruption, a Plinian (or Vesuvian)
event in about 800 AD, triggered a series of pyroclastic flows and
lahars that scoured the basins around the volcano.
The location of Popocatépetl. Google Maps.
The volcanoes of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt (including
Popocatépetl) are fuelled by the subduction of the Cocos Plate beneath
the North American Plate along the Middle American Trench to the south
of Mexico. As the subducting plate sinks into the Earth it is melted by
the heat and pressure, and volatile minerals liquefy and rise through
the overlying North American Plate as magma, fuelling Mexico's volcanoes.
The subduction of the Cocos Plate beneath the North American Plate in Mexico, and how it leads to volcanoes and Earthquakes. King Saud University.
See also...
Magnitude 4.7 Earthquake off the coast of Oaxaca State, Mexico. The United States Geological Survey
recorded a Magnitude 4.7 Earthquake at a depth of 10 km off...
Eruption on Mount Popocatépetl. Mount Popocatépetl in southern Mexico underwent a major eruption on
Monday 18 April 2016, producing a column of ash rising 3 km above the
summit and throwing incandescent material (glowing hot rocks...
Flights cancelled after eruption on Mount Colima. Several flights from airports in Mexico have been cancelled following an
eruption on Mount Colima on Wednesday 18 November 2015. The eruption...
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