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Updated Monday, January 7, 2008 0:00 am TWN, AFP

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Mexico volcano puts on ‘spectacular’ show

PUEBLA, Mexico -- Mexico’s Popocatepetl volcano put on a spectacular show Saturday, spewing out a huge, billowing cloud of ash and steam eight kilometers (five miles) high, but creating little danger, officials said.

“Judging by the altitude, it is the biggest smoke cloud we’ve seen in the past seven years,” Popocatepetl Operation Plan director Ramon Pena told AFP.

The expert observer, however, said the volcano’s activity 60 kilometers (38 miles) south of Mexico City did not change the ongoing yellow alert — signaling no risk — for nearby populations.

The column of smoke, ash and steam rising from Popocatepetl’s crater was expected to fall within the next few hours over several Puebla state towns and villages, Pena said.

The 5,452-meter (17,900-foot) Popocatepetl awoke from a dormant state in 1994 and since then has been cordoned off by the Mexican army who keep civilians at a prudent 12-kilometer (7.5 mile) distance.

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