Popocatépetl, one of Mexico’s most active volcanoes, continued to spew gases and ash in October 2024. The towering mountain’s current period of activity, ongoing since 2005, has seen near daily episodes of seismic tremors and eruptions.
The OLI (Operational Land Imager) on Landsat 8 captured an image of one of the volcano’s recent eruptions on October 25, 2024. Monitoring systems on that day detected “a continuous emission of water vapor, volcanic gases, and ash,” according to Mexico’s Centro Nacional de Prevención de Desastres (CENAPRED).
During the week of October 16-22, CENAPRED reported ashfall in several communities near the volcano in central Mexico. Popocatépetl sits southeast of Mexico City and has around 30 million people living within a 70-kilometer (44-mile) radius of its summit. As of October 28, CENAPRED’s alert level remained at yellow (the middle level on a three-color scale), and the public was warned to stay at least 12 kilometers (8 miles) away from the crater.
Significant seismic tremors were detected on October 20 and were accompanied by a gas-and-ash plume that rose 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) above the crater. When volcanic ash—made of shards of glass and pulverized rock—falls, it can cause respiratory problems, contaminate drinking water, and harm livestock and crops.
Particles that stay high in the atmosphere are less of a concern for air quality, but they can travel large distances. Wind carried some of the ash over the Gulf of Mexico, and on October 26, the National Weather Service office in Jacksonville reported observations of ash high in the air above Sarasota, Florida. The weather service noted how these particles high in the atmosphere could cause colorful sunsets.
Popocatépetl has had recurring periods of activity since it rumbled to life in 1994 after 50 years of quiet. A research team estimated that the volcano has erupted explosively, with a Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) of at least 4, more than 25 times over the past 500,000 years, with the most recent one occurring about 1,100 years ago. The current eruption has a VEI of 2.
NASA Earth Observatory image by Michala Garrison, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey. Story by Emily Cassidy.
