CIUDAD GUZMAN - Mexico's "Fire Volcano" spewed ashes almost three miles (5 km) high on Sunday, its fiercest eruption of rock and lava in more than 15 years and its third major explosion in two weeks.
No casualties were reported after the afternoon eruption of the 12,540-foot (3,860-meter) Colima volcano in the western state of the same name.
Authorities in Ciudad Guzman, close to the volcano, told Reuters they were prepared to evacuate towns should the need arise.
Area villagers were last evacuated in May 2002 after a series of small blasts. The volcano's last major eruption was in 1913 but it has blown up intermittently in the past decade.
On May 23 and May 30 the volcano, located in a sparsely populated rural area about 300 miles (482 km) from Mexico City, belched lava and glowing rocks, but prompted no evacuations.
Scientists at the University of Colima said Sunday's explosion was 20 percent larger than the May 30 eruption.
The "Fire Volcano" has been Mexico's most active volcano in recent years. Another volcano, Popocatepetl, stands near Mexico City, home to some 20 million people.
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