The smoking hill or better known as the It is located in the center of Mexico, more specifically between the states of Puebla, Morelos and the State of Mexico, it is possibly the most majestic and active volcano in the country, which means that it is always under constant surveillance due to its unpredictable behavior. that threatens too many people, since an eruption would affect millions of inhabitants of at least five states of the Mexican Republic.
Characteristics of the Popocatépetl volcano
Popocatépetl is a stratovolcano, which means that it was formed from layers of solidified lava and volcanic ash that were expelled in volcanic explosions, with a symmetrical conical shape with a diameter of 25 kilometers and a height of 5,500 meters, which which makes it the second highest of the just below the volcano Citlaltepetl.
According to geological studies that have been carried out, the Popocatépetl volcano is approximately 730 thousand years old. This data varies as more eruptions and collapses of its main crater occur. It is constantly monitored to anticipate possible eruptions and manage the direction of possible lava flows.
The legend behind Popocatépetl
The pre-Hispanic legend tells the story of two of the most important volcanoes in Mexico, Popocatépetl and Iztaccíhuatl. Legend has it that thousands of years ago one of the many fights took place between the Aztecs and the Tlaxcalans. Popoca, one of the warriors of Tlaxcala, fell madly in love with Mixtli, the monarch’s daughter, and when he asked for her hand, the ruler accepted on the condition that he go fight his enemies and return victorious, something that seemed almost impossible.
Popoca went to war to fulfill his purpose and during the time he was absent a rumor spread that he had died in combat. When this news reached the princess, she took her own life in despair over her pain. When Popoca returned victorious from the war and learned the sad news, he watched over the body of his beloved, brandishing the torch of eternal fire until he himself died from her sadness.
Thus the gods covered their bodies so that they remained face to face, together for all eternity and it was then when they became and their names in Nahuatl were born: Iztaccíhuatl means “the sleeping woman” and Popocatépetl “the smoking mountain”which still emits fumaroles that remember the love he had for Mixtli.
Popocatépetl volcano activity
For most of its life, Popocatépetl has been active, even though it spent most of the 20th century at rest. But starting in 1991 its activity began to increase and two years later its fumaroles began to be more visible. There is a huge amount of records of the since ancient times:
1927: This was caused by the dynamization of the crater to extract the sulfur from it.
1994: eruptive event that was characterized by the emission of volcanic ash, was preceded by increases in seismic volcanotectonic events, changes in temperature and concentration of sulfates and chlorides in the crater lake, as well as the partial pressure of carbon dioxide in the springs .
2000-2001: From December to January, the last violent eruption of the volcano was recorded, where there were precursors such as negative magnetic anomalies and small changes in the springs.
2005: occurred in the crater of the volcano that caused a column of smoke and ash up to 3 kilometers high.
2014: On the night of November 4, a column of smoke began to be visible over the volcano until dawn the next day. During this time, there were several explosions with incandescent material, steam, and ash.
2016: It began to have activity in the early morning of April 18 with ash followed by small eruptions and a rain of incandescent material generating a fumarole that extended for kilometers, causing a rain of ash.
2018: After the earthquake of February 16, the volcano expelled a large fumarole of water and ash that reached 700 meters high.
2020: It released columns of smoke and ash more than 600 meters high.
Several explosions have recently been recorded and Phase 2 of the volcanic alert has been activated, since these detonations contained rock fragments and columns of smoke and ash that rose more than two kilometers.