Skip to main content
Back to map
CompareShow on map

Mexico · Stratovolcano

Popocatépetl

Popocatepetl

Type
Stratovolcano
Elevation
5393m
Last eruption
2026
Popocatépetl
Photo: Jakub Hejtmánek · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Type
Stratovolcano
Country
Mexico
Region
Middle America & Caribbean / Trans-Mexican Volcanic Arc
Elevation
5393m
Coordinates
19.023, -98.622
Last eruption
2026
Tectonic setting
Subduction zone / Continental crust (> 25 km)
Landform
Composite
Major rock type
Andesite / Basaltic andesite
Geological summary

Volcán Popocatépetl, whose name is the Aztec word for smoking mountain, rises 70 km SE of Mexico City to form North America's 2nd-highest volcano. The glacier-clad stratovolcano contains a steep-walled, 400 x 600 m wide crater. The generally symmetrical volcano is modified by the sharp-peaked Ventorrillo on the NW, a remnant of an earlier volcano. At least three previous major cones were destroyed by gravitational failure during the Pleistocene, producing massive debris-avalanche deposits covering broad areas to the south. The modern volcano was constructed south of the late-Pleistocene to Holocene El Fraile cone. Three major Plinian eruptions, the most recent of which took place about 800 CE, have occurred since the mid-Holocene, accompanied by pyroclastic flows and voluminous lahars that swept basins below the volcano. Frequent historical eruptions, first recorded in Aztec codices, have occurred since Pre-Columbian time.

From Wikipedia

Popocatépetl is an active stratovolcano located in the states of Puebla, Morelos, and Mexico in central Mexico. It lies in the eastern half of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt. At 5,393 m (17,694 ft) it is the second highest peak in Mexico, after Citlaltépetl at 5,636 m (18,491 ft). Popocatépetl is ranked 89th by prominence.

Wikipedia · CC BY-SA · Read full article →

Eruption history

46 recordedGlossary
Summary (VEI over time)
Click a bar to see individual eruptions · Use arrow keys to move between bars, Enter to open
7150 BCE~6845 BCE · 1 eruptions · max VEI 46540 BCE~6234 BCE · 1 eruptions · max VEI ?5319 BCE~5014 BCE · 1 eruptions · max VEI 43793 BCE~3488 BCE · 1 eruptions · max VEI 52572 BCE~2267 BCE · 1 eruptions · max VEI ?1962 BCE~1657 BCE · 1 eruptions · max VEI ?436 BCE~131 BCE · 1 eruptions · max VEI 5174~479 · 1 eruptions · max VEI ?784~1090 · 1 eruptions · max VEI 41090~1395 · 3 eruptions · max VEI 21395~1700 · 19 eruptions · max VEI 31700~2005 · 15 eruptions · max VEI 37150 BCE5014 BCE2572 BCE436 BCE1700

Detailed timeline

  1. 2005VEI 2Observed
    2005-01-09 – 2026-03-18
  2. 2004VEI 2Observed
    2004-05-26 – 2004-05-26
  3. 1996VEI 3Observed
    1996-03-05 – 2003-11-22
  4. 1994VEI 2Observed
    1994-12-21 – 1995-10-05
  5. 1947VEI 1Observed
    1947-01-16 – 1947-02-16
  6. 1942VEI 1Observed
    1942-07-02 – 1943-07-02
  7. 1933VEI 1Observed
    1933-01-23 – end unknown
  8. 1925VEI 2Observed
    1925-07-02 – 1927-07-02
  9. 1923VEI 1Observed
    1923-11-27 – 1924-03-07
  10. 1919VEI 1Observed
    1919-02-19 – 1922-07-02
  11. 1852VEI 1Method not stated
    1852-07-02 – end unknown
  12. 1834VEI 1Method not stated
    1834-07-02 – end unknown
  13. 1827VEI 1Method not stated
    1827-07-02 – end unknown
  14. 1802VEI 1Observed
    1802-07-02 – 1804-07-02
  15. 1720VEI 1Observed
    1720 – end unknown
  16. 1697VEI 1Observed
    1697-10-20 – end unknown
  17. 1666VEI 2Observed
    1666 – 1667
  18. 1663VEI 3Observed
    1663-10-13 – 1665-10-19
  19. 1642VEI 2Observed
    1642 – end unknown
  20. 1592VEI 2Observed
    1592 – 1594-10
  21. 1590VEI 2Observed
    1590 – end unknown
  22. 1580VEI 2Observed
    1580 – end unknown
  23. 1571VEI 2Observed
    1571 – end unknown
  24. 1548VEI 2Observed
    1548 – end unknown
  25. 1542VEI 2Observed
    1542 – end unknown
  26. 1539VEI 2Observed
    1539 – 1540
  27. 1530VEI 2Observed
    1530 – end unknown
  28. 1528VEI 2Observed
    1528 – end unknown
  29. 1519VEI 3Observed
    1519-09 – 1523
  30. 1518VEI 2Observed
    1518 – end unknown
  31. 1512VEI 2Observed
    1512 – end unknown
  32. 1509VEI ?Method not stated
    1509 – end unknown
  33. 1504VEI 2Observed
    1504 – end unknown
  34. 1488VEI 2Observed
    1488 – end unknown
  35. 1363VEI 2Method not stated
    1363 – end unknown
  36. 1354VEI 2Observed
    1354 – end unknown
  37. 1345VEI 2Observed
    1345 – 1347
  38. 823VEI 4Geological estimate
    823-03-01 – end unknown
  39. 250VEI ?Geological estimate
    250 – end unknown
  40. 200 BCE (±300 yrs)VEI 5Geological estimate
    200 BCE – end unknown
  41. 1890 BCE (±75 yrs)VEI ?Geological estimate
    1890 BCE – end unknown
    Volcán El Fraile
  42. 2370 BCE (±75 yrs)VEI ?Geological estimate
    2370 BCE – end unknown
    Volcán El Fraile
  43. 3700 BCE (±300 yrs)VEI 5Geological estimate
    3700 BCE – end unknown
    Volcán El Fraile
  44. 5150 BCEVEI 4Geological estimate
    5150 BCE – end unknown
    Volcán El Fraile
  45. 6250 BCE (±500 yrs)VEI ?Geological estimate
    6250 BCE – end unknown
    Volcán El Fraile
  46. 7150 BCEVEI 4Geological estimate
    7150 BCE – end unknown
    Volcán El Fraile

Nearby volcanoes

External links

⚠ For reference only. Not for emergency response.