The dramatic moment that a volcano in Mexico erupted was caught on camera.
Pillars of grey ash and smoke suddenly unfold out of the smooth volcano crater into the sky in new footage captured Saturday of Popocatepetl, an active volcano outside Mexico City.
The video was posted on Twitter by Mexico’s Secretariat of Security and Citizen Protection.
Mexico’s national disaster prevention agency posted a statement about the volcanic event, warning the public to stay away from the volcano, and particularly the crater, in case of falling fragments of rock.
The statement said that there had been eight minor explosions, and that at night, a glow was visible from the crater.
This follows in which the precursor to this eruption can be seen. In the earlier video, thin tendrils of smoke leak out of a small hole in the centre of the crater – presumably, the same spot that exploded a week later.
Popocatepetl has been active since the mid-1990s. Earlier this year, in January, it had a much larger eruption, sending rocks tumbling two kilometres down the volcano’s slope, and dusting nearby towns with ash.
