OFFICIALS are preparing to evacuate tens of thousands of people from around a
volcano near Mexico City that is threatening to blow its top.
For the first time, volcanologists have pieced together a map of which
settlements are most at risk from lava and mudflows following an eruption. Some
people could have less than an hour to get out before being overwhelmed.
Popocatépetl or “Popo” as the mountain is colloquially known, has been
relatively quiet for the past 1200 years. That changed last December, when
people in the nearby city of Amecameca became alarmed by unusual amounts of
smoke…
