Popocatepetl

The Mexican volcano with the cool name is at it again.

The picture above is from 2000 – so far this time, it is only belching smoke and ash and an occasional red-hot rock is rolling down the hillside.

As the volatile Popocatepetl volcano belches ash and blazing rock fragments into the air, authorities have amped up alert levels for the areas surrounding the mountain near Mexico City.

Increased activity this week prompted Mexican authorities to raise the alert level to five on a seven-level scale, but so far,  no evacuations have been planned.

The volcano straddles two Mexican states, Puebla and Morelos, about 40 miles south of Mexico City.

Areas close to the volcano have been closed off, and people are warned to stay at least seven miles from the crater, where a lava dorm is forming, according to the National Disaster Prevention Center.

The volcano, which has been active since 1994, had experienced its largest known eruption in 2000, when it spewed a 2.5 mile-high column of ash and smoke, forcing thousands to evacuate.