MidnightWatcher – Prophecy in Motion

News 24 – “Xalitzintla – Residents at the foot of Mexico’s Popocatepetl volcano no longer sleep soundly since the towering mountain roared back into action over a week ago, spewing out a hail of rocks, steam and ash.

‘We close our eyes, but we don’t sleep much. In the past, there was only smoke but this time it’s stronger,’ said Francisco Jimenez, who lives in the nearby town of Xalitzintla in central Mexico, 55km from Mexico City.

The volcano, Mexico’s second highest peak at 5 452m, started rumbling and spurting high clouds of ash and steam on 13 April, provoking the authorities to raise the alert to level five on a seven-point scale.

The alert extended a security cordon around the volcano but stopped short of starting evacuations of about 685 000 residents from nearby communities.

Over the weekend, residents watched as Popocatepetl, which means ‘smoking mountain’ in the indigenous Nahuatl language, lived up to its name, spouting glowing rocks and shaking the ground beneath their feet.

‘When we went out to see, my son cried: ‘We have to leave!’ We were ready to leave for Mexico City but then it calmed down a bit,’ said 67-year-old Leopolda Perez of Xalitzintla…

‘We’ve been watching out for many nights, waiting to see what happens,’ said Gabino Santibanez, mayor of San Pedro Benito Juarez, a small town only 9km from the glowing crater.

Locals said that most frightening was the unusual rumbling coming from the volcano, which many compared to an aircraft turbine.

‘We’ve never heard a noise like it,’ said Maximiliano Grajales.” Read more.