Huge swathes of Mexico are blanketed in dust as Popocatépetl volcano continues to spew ash and dust, with 3M ordered to prepare for evacuation
Around three million people have been ordered to evacuate as huge swathes of Mexico were blanketed in dust by the Popocatépetl volcano, which has also delayed flights and caused schools to close.
The country’s National Civil Protection Coordination increased its threat level to ‘yellow phase 3’ which ordered the evacuations and warned people nearby to prepare for the possibility of leaving the area.
The next step, a red alert, triggers mandatory evacuations, and dozens of shelters have already been opened in areas surrounding the crater as a precaution.
Approximately 25 million people live within 60 miles of the Popocatépetl volcano, just 45 miles southeast of Mexico City.
For more than a week, the 17,797-foot mountain – known affectionately as ‘El Popo’ – has been increasingly explosive, spewing great plumes of gas, ash and incandescent rock into the air.