ポポカテペトル山の活動活発化、警戒レベル引き上げ　メキシコ

【メキシコ市ＡＦＰ＝時事】メキシコの国立防災センターは２１日、中部のポポカテペトル山山の活動が活発化し、煙や灰、溶岩の噴出が見られるのを受け、警戒レベルを「黄色のフェーズ３」に引き上げた。（写真は火山噴出物を放出するメキシコのポポカテペトル火山）
　ポポカテペトル山はモレロス、メキシコ、プエブラの３州にまたがる。半径１００キロ以内に約２５００万人が住んでおり、世界で最も危険な火山の一つとされている。
　国立防災センターの警報システムによると、「黄色のフェーズ３」は「避難準備」勧告で、この上の「赤色」は避難命令となる。
　２０日には、降灰のためメキシコ市の２か所の空港で全便の運航が一時停止された。 【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2023/05/24-17:32）

Mexican authorities on Sunday raised the warning level for the Popocatepetl volcano to one step below red alert, as smoke, ash and molten rock spewed into the sky posing risks to aviation and far-flung communities below.
The volcano, located in central Mexico, is considered one of the most dangerous in the world because some 25 million people live within a 100-kilometer (60-mile) radius.
Sunday's increased alert level -- to yellow phase three -- comes a day after two Mexico City airports temporarily halted operations due to falling ash.
Popocatepetl is located on the borders of the central states of Morelos, Mexico, and Puebla, the capital of which an AFP reporter said Sunday had woken up to a blanketing of gray ash.
The yellow warning means remain alert and prepare for a possible evacuation, according to the warning system developed by Mexico's National Disaster Prevention Center.
The yellow phase three activated Sunday means intermediate to high activity and is triggered when the volcano shows explosions of increasing intensity, expelling incandescent fragments.
According to civil protection coordinator Laura Velazquez, the alert increase also means an elevated risk of spewing magma and significant explosions of increasing intensity that shoot fragments (of rock) over considerable distances.
The next step, a red alert, triggers mandatory evacuations.
Dozens of shelters have already been opened in areas surrounding the crater.
Popocatepetl, which has not had a massive eruption in more than a millennium, became active again in 1994 and has seen periods of increased activity ever since.