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Volcano Near Mexico City Becomes More Active

Posted by Soulskill on from the danger-will-robinson dept.

benfrog writes "Popocatépetl, a volcano that sits 34 miles east of Mexico City, has begun a series of small eruptions. It's feared that larger eruptions would not only endanger people within range of its explosions, but disrupt life in Mexico City with ash clouds. 'People in the village of Xalitzintla said they were awakened by a window-rattling series of eruptions. Mexico’s National Disaster Prevention Center said one string of eruptions ended in the early morning, then the volcano started up again at 5:05 a.m., with at least 12 eruptions in two hours.' More than 30 million people live within sight of the volcano."

20 of 114 comments (clear)

  1. Well by masternerdguy · · Score: 4, Funny

    Must be all the tacos.

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  2. Re:See, this is why... by Quiet_Desperation · · Score: 4, Funny

    But I can keep my volcano based supervillain lair, right?

  3. Earthquake link? by Sooner+Boomer · · Score: 5, Interesting
    There have been numerous large earthquakes along the Pacific coast just West of Mexico City in the past few weeks. I wonder if/how the two might be related?

    http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Maps/region/N_America.php

    Shows 4.3 and 5.1 in Central America in the past day...

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    1. Re:Earthquake link? by DigiShaman · · Score: 2

      Most likely, yes given that it's part of the Ring of Fire if not near it. Disruptions just about anywhere along that area tends to cause a shake up (pun not intended) elsewhere shortly following a previous event.

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    2. Re:Earthquake link? by ColdWetDog · · Score: 4, Informative

      There are always magnitude 2 - 6 earthquakes around the Pacific Rim - that's why it's called the 'ring of fire'. So yes, it's related, but pretty much business as usual.

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  4. Re:See, this is why... by mooingyak · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...we need to move away from volcano-generated electricity, and decommission all volcanos near population centers immediately.

    No no no. The problem is that we're using antiquated volcano design with inferior failsafes.

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  5. Of course, we all know the eruption date by circletimessquare · · Score: 5, Funny

    December 21

    relax, 8 more months to go

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  6. Here's a hint by koan · · Score: 4, Informative

    Go Google the location of the plates and fault lines, then look at earthquakes for the last 10 years and you will see a pattern.

    http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ypalM7eSBEQ/SdzT_ajylVI/AAAAAAAAAbM/XNB1-z6lvKg/s1600-h/tectonic_map.jpg

    http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eqarchives/year/byyear.php

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  7. Need more virgins by PPH · · Score: 5, Funny

    Fast.

    Slashdotters, be afraid.

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    1. Re:Need more virgins by DarkTempes · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Nah, we're quite safe. We all know that only female virgins are sacrificed.

    2. Re:Need more virgins by couchslug · · Score: 2

      In other news, archaeologists have discovered an ancient Mayan textile depicting ritual sacrifice of "neckbeards" to placate the volcano god, Slashdopetl.

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    3. Re:Need more virgins by DarkTempes · · Score: 2

      Wouldn't it be female volcano gods that you would sacrifice the male virgins to?

      Or I guess gay volcano gods. But still, a volcano god that wants males is statistically more likely to be female than gay.
      Says so right in my volcano god almanac.

  8. Stupid by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    What kind of idiot builds a city next to a volcano?

    N from Edinburgh

    1. Re:Stupid by SgtAaron · · Score: 3, Informative

      What kind of idiot builds a city next to a volcano?

      For any of us that happen to live in the northwest US or the billion or so others who are near the Pacific ring of fire, we don't really have much choice. Here in Bend, we're only 30 miles from a bunch of old volcanoes--one of them, South Sister, is developing a bulge that grows about 1 inch a year--but if we moved the city farther away, we'd be out in the desert without our wonderful view of the Cascade Mountains and quick access to the ski resort and the dozens of lakes up there. Who would want that? I think it's a lot easier for someone from Scotland (I assume *that* Edinburgh) to avoid volcanoes in his native land, eh?

      In any case, lack of proximity does not equal safety. When Mt St Helens erupted in 1980, I was in Spokane, at least a couple of hundred miles away from it, and we got blanketed in ash that made life more difficult for weeks. We didn't suffer from pyroclastic flows or anything, of course, but it's not recommended to breath volcanic ash for any length of time (had to wear masks forever).

    2. Re:Stupid by gmhowell · · Score: 2

      Dunno. Ask people in Tacoma, Olympia or Vancouver, WA or Portland, OR.

      Ahh, hipsters. Got it.

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      Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. -John Lennon
    3. Re:Stupid by quenda · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Woosh! Edinburgh castle is famously built on a volcanic crag. So the city is built on the remains of a volcano. Though one extinct for a few hundred million years.

  9. the popo by TheGratefulNet · · Score: 2

    ...never seems to leave mexicans alone.

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  10. Ash and Mexico City by Taco+Cowboy · · Score: 2

    disrupt life in Mexico City with ash clouds

    The air quality of Mexico City is very dirty, so dirty that birds actually die while they were flying and fall down from the sky

    And I read somewhere that an American diplomat once commented that the dust you see in Mexico City is mostly made up of dried manure

    In light of this, a little bit volcano ash won't do much harm to Mexico City

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    1. Re:Ash and Mexico City by Coren22 · · Score: 3, Informative

      I wonder how many American cities you have been too. LA and Mexico City have the same issue, they are both built in a depression which traps the pollution, so they both have the same issue of a haze. New York however has very little in the way of air pollution, though I wouldn't want to swim in the rivers running through the city. :) Pollution issues in cities mostly has to do with geography, until we move from ICE, it is something we can't do too much about.

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  11. Re:Oh, wait by gmuslera · · Score: 2

    Probably would be a minor eruption, and Mexico City would be safe. But, to put it in another perspective, next time that are inusual activity in the Yellowstone caldera like the one 2 years ago, would you order to evacuate half of US?