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Report on Popocatepetl (Mexico) — 22 October-28 October 2014


Popocatepetl

Smithsonian Institution / US Geological Survey
Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 22 October-28 October 2014
Managing Editor: Sally Sennert.

Please cite this report as:

Global Volcanism Program, 2014. Report on Popocatepetl (Mexico) (Sennert, S, ed.). Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 22 October-28 October 2014. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey.

Weekly Report (22 October-28 October 2014)

Popocatepetl

Mexico

19.023°N, 98.622°W; summit elev. 5393 m

All times are local (unless otherwise noted)


CENAPRED reported that during 22-28 October seismicity at Popocatépetl indicated continuing emissions of water vapor, gas, and small amounts of ash. Incandescence from the crater was observed at night. A small explosion at 0317 on 25 October ejected tephra 100 m onto the S flank. A steam-and-gas plume containing a small amount of ash rose 1.5 km above the crater and drifted SW. Ashfall was reported in Tetela del Volcán (20 km SW). An explosion at 0111 on 26 October ejected tephra 200 m onto the N flank. A steam-and-gas plume with diffuse ash rose 1.1 km and drifted NW. On 28 October an ash plume drifted WSW. The Alert Level remained at to Yellow, Phase Two.

Geological Summary. Volcán Popocatépetl, whose name is the Aztec word for smoking mountain, rises 70 km SE of Mexico City to form North America's 2nd-highest volcano. The glacier-clad stratovolcano contains a steep-walled, 400 x 600 m wide crater. The generally symmetrical volcano is modified by the sharp-peaked Ventorrillo on the NW, a remnant of an earlier volcano. At least three previous major cones were destroyed by gravitational failure during the Pleistocene, producing massive debris-avalanche deposits covering broad areas to the south. The modern volcano was constructed south of the late-Pleistocene to Holocene El Fraile cone. Three major Plinian eruptions, the most recent of which took place about 800 CE, have occurred since the mid-Holocene, accompanied by pyroclastic flows and voluminous lahars that swept basins below the volcano. Frequent historical eruptions, first recorded in Aztec codices, have occurred since Pre-Columbian time.

Source: Centro Nacional de Prevencion de Desastres (CENAPRED)