MEXICO VOLCANO THREATENS TO BLOW

Mass EVACUATION alert: One of world's MOST DANGEROUS volcanoes threatens to BLOW

THOUSANDS of people living by one of the world's most dangerous volcanoes have been put on evacuation alert after the monster peak began spewing toxic gas and ash.

By JON AUSTIN

PUBLISHED: 08:30, Sat, Jan 23, 2016

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Thousands of people were placed on an evacuation warning this week.  The Popocatépetl volcano, just 35 miles from Mexico City and only 20 miles from nearby city Peubla sent a mile high plume of ash into the air, putting thousands of people living within 10 miles of it on a yellow alert to be ready to evacuate should activity increase.

The Mexican capital is the world’s fourth most populated city and home to 20 million people, while Peubla has more than 6 million people living there, and all could be at risk in both cites in the event of a catastrophic eruption.

The volcano alert follows fears earlier this month that a second large volcano in Mexico - the 3,850 metres-high Colima in western Mexico - could be about to face a large scale eruption for the first time in 100 years.

Popocatépetl last saw a major eruption in 2000, but early warnings saw 41,000 people evacuated in advance, averting a major disaster.

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In 2005 it had a minor eruption, but activity has been increasing since 2012, with this week's some of the most notable, prompting officials to issue the warning.

If the volcano experienced a massive eruption, an estimated nine million people would be in the blast zone and the impact on the atmosphere could be catastrophic.

Popocatépetl has erupted more than 20 times since 1519, according to records.  The glacier-covered peak is 5,426 metres-high.  Meanwhile Colima experienced a saw an ash cloud of 1.8 miles high expelled earlier this month.  This also put locals on standby for evacuations immediately afterwards.

This image of Popocatépetl at night shows how many people live around the fire mountain