Volcano Update 3: Popocatéptl Blows His Top

Milenio: Mexico City, April 28 • President Felipe Calderón reported that at 6:00 AM this morning,  Popocatépetl registered an eruption accompanied by incandescent material that traveled a thousand meters (slightly more than half a mile) to the east. 

Popo blowing his top

After the event, the volcano returned to a "stable, low level of activity." 

Meanwhile, the government of Puebla began distributing leaflets describing emergency evacuation procedures to inhabitants of the municipality of San Nicolas de los Ranchos, located on the volcano's slopes. 

"During our tour of San Nicolas de los Ranchos we heard the worries of the neighbors," tweeted the secretary of state of Puebla, Fernando Manzanilla. Spanish original

CENAPRED saw it coming....

Last night CENAPRED posted this incredible photo, including stars...
A reader wrote that Popo's activities remind her of The Little Prince with his 'three volcanoes that he cleaned every day'  

Milenio. Mexico, April 27 PM • Popocatépetl volcano is relatively calm with a slight emission of water vapor and gas to the southeast. The alert remains at Yellow-Phase 3, reported the National Center for Disaster Prevention (CENAPRED). 

The agency said that in recent hours, the giant had nine low-intensity exhalations accompanied by emissions of water vapor, gas and small amounts of ash. 

In its 7:00 am report, CENAPRED indicated that the largest exhalations occurred Thursday night and early Friday morning. The agency also predicted the likelihood of explosive activity at a 'high to intermediate' scale. 

It envisages the growth of domes and possible expulsion of lava, explosions of increasing intensity and notorious ash fall on towns near the volcano. It recommended that inhabitants of the communities surrounding Popocatépetl avoid crossing the buffer zone of 12 kilometers, maintain controlled traffic between Santiago and San Pedro Nexapa Xalitzintla via Paso de Cortés and be aware of the operations of the Civil Protection authorities.  Spanish original

Volcanoes: Destructive and Creative Forces 

I'd not thought about volcanoes as other than destructive forces of nature until I read this description on the CENAPRED web site. The author is reflecting on why humans have settled close to volcanoes. One possibility is that there might have been an absence of evidence suggesting that a volcano had the potential to become active.

Volcanoes can remain inactive for extremely long periods of time—centuries, if not millenia—so when one again becomes active following an extremely long period of inactivity, which is what happened with Popocatéptl in 1994, human settlements are taken by surprise.

But the scientists suggest that this isn't the primary reason for human settlement on land close to volcanoes (my translation).

In contrast with other natural phenomena of destructive character, volcanic activity is one of the factors that has made our planet habitable. Among the positive effects of volcanic action, we can say that it has been a fundamental factor (among others) for the beginning of life on our planet. The volcanic release of gases from the planet's interior modified the atmosphere in ways that made possible life for beings whose metabolisms are based on carbon.

Volcanic products have always been essential for the formation of great quantities of fertile soil on great swathes of Earth. The restoration and remineralization of soil that occur with volcanic deposits is particularly evident throughout the densely populated volcanic areas that encircle our planet.  CENAPRED - Frequently Asked Questions about Popocatéptl

I recall that farmers in Michoacán within a 22-mile radius of the volcano Paricutín were unable to grow crops for the nine years that Paricutín was actively erupting, but farmers slightly farther away reported exceptionally bountiful crop yields during those same years, when the ash fell lightly on their fields.

So that concludes Jenny's Volcano Update for today!  I'm assuming you get the idea—we're never bored!