The restless Popocatépetl volcano kicked off the week with an explosion and a plume of ash that rose between four and five kilometers above its crater The explosion was recorded Monday at 6:44am after which the federal Civil Protection office warned the public to stay away from the volcano Winds at the time of the explosion blew the towering plume of ash toward the east the agency reported that some ash fall was reported in Tetela del Volcán Ocuituco and Hueyapan in Morelos; in San Pedro Benito Juárez and Atlixco Citizens in those areas are advised to use face masks to cover their mouths and noses and keep pets indoors clean water should be used to rinse eyes and throats Water deposits should remain covered and ash on the ground should be swept and not washed away with water The volcano alert level for El Popo remains at yellow Phase 2 Source: El Financiero (sp) ADVERTISE WITH MND COMMUNITY GUIDELINES Subscription FAQ's Privacy Policy Mexico News Daily - Property of Tavana LLC whose name is the Aztec word for smoking mountain towers to 5426 m 70 km SE of Mexico City to form North America's 2nd-highest volcano The glacier-clad stratovolcano contains a steep-walled The generally symmetrical volcano is modified by the sharp-peaked Ventorrillo on the NW At least three previous major cones were destroyed by gravitational failure during the Pleistocene producing massive debris-avalanche deposits covering broad areas south of the volcano The modern volcano was constructed to the south of the late-Pleistocene to Holocene El Fraile cone the most recent of which took place about 800 AD have occurred from Popocatépetl since the mid Holocene accompanied by pyroclastic flows and voluminous lahars that swept basins below the volcano Source: GVP, Smithsonian Institution - Popocatepetl information