Volcano erupts:Mexico

Mexico City, October 9

Mexico's Popocatepetl Volcano registered a mild eruption, sending a 2 km-high plume of smoke and steam, authorities said.

The eruption registered at 9.04 a.m. (local time) was the fourth in 24 hours, according to the National Disaster Prevention Centre of Mexico.

"In the past 24 hours, the Popocatepetl Volcano monitoring system registered 88 low-intensity exhalations and four explosions, including two on Saturday and two on Sunday," Xinhua news agency quoted the Centre as saying.

The agency also detected "a light emission of gas and steam to the northeast" of the volcano, located some 70 km southeast of Mexico City.

Popocatepetl has been mildly active since December 21, 1994, and a "yellow phase 2" caution alert has been in place ever since, meaning people must keep outside a 12-km radius around the crater.

After the powerful 7.1-magnitude quake that struck central Mexico on September 19, the volcano registered two eruptions of steam and gas in the following four days. — IANS