Volcano Journal Entry
Colima Still Spitting Ash (March 4, 2004)
Color-enhanced, heat-sensitive satellite view of Mexico's Colima volcano. Courtesy NASA and USGS EROS Data Center Satellite Systems.
Activity at Mexico's Colima volcano continued this week with an average of about three explosions per day. The volcano spat out columns of ash that rose nearly two miles (three kilometers) above its crater. Most of the ash rained down on the volcano's slopes. Colima's alert code is at "orange" for erupting or about to erupt.
The volcano, which has been in an active phase since November 1998, has a growing lava dome at its summit. Several of its eruptions since 1998 have included lava flows and pyroclastic flows.
Colima, found about 300 miles (500 kilometers) west of Mexico City, is one of Mexico's most active volcanoes. About 300,000 people live within 25 miles (40 km) of the "Volcano of Fire."
Mexico lies on the North American plate in the region where the Pacific and Cocos plates dive below it. Its volcanoes are included in the Ring of Fire, the large arc of active volcanoes along tectonic plate boundaries surrounding the Pacific Ocean.
According to ancient Mexican legend, gods sit atop the mountain on thrones of ice and fire.
