Popocatepetl Volcano 2013: Don Goyo Spews Ash, Incandescent Fragments [VIDEO]

Mexico's Popocatépetl volcano (known colloquially as "Don Goyo" or "Don Popo") spewed ash and shot incandescent fragments as far as 1.25 miles from the crater at 1:23 this afternoon in one of its more dramatic explosive events in recent times. Residents living as far as 15 miles from the volcano said they heard it let off a sound like a rocket explosion which shook their windows. Ash blown out of the crater reached as high as 2.5 miles into the air. Mexico's National Center For Disaster Prevention (Cenapred) said that incandescent fragments landing on the side of the mountain started small fires in nearby pastures.

Watch video of the erupting volcano below.

Esther Martínez, a resident of neighboring municipality Amecameca, told La Jornada that the sound was like a rocket explosion, but hollow. She added that the sound brought all of her neighbors out of their houses and into the street, where they stood looking toward the mountain despite the low visibility.

Cenapred is calling for ash to be carried on winds and fall on parts of the state of Puebla to the northeast of the volcano, though it also noted that the wind current could shift and begin to send ash falling to the southeast of the Valley of Mexico. "At the time of this report, the volcano has recuperated previous levels of activity," Cenapred said in a statement, adding that the volcanic alert level would remain at Yellow Phase 2.

In May, activity on Popocatépetl was enough to force authorities to announce evacuation plans to nearby residents and instruct them to remain vigilant. The volcano is one of the country's most active volcanoes, with ash and incandescent fragment being expelled from the crater in a series of January 2012 eruptions. The last time lava erupted down the mountain was in 2005.