Scientists: Mexican volcano no longer an immediate threat

From staff and wire reports

CHOLULA, Mexico -- Volcano experts said the worst appeared to be over Wednesday as the Popocatepetl volcano outside Mexico City settled into a quiet slumber.

But a spokeswoman for Mexico's president wouldn't confirm the scientific report, and officials said they would likely keep residents of towns on the volcano's slopes in shelters at least through Christmas.

The 17,886-foot (5,451-meter) Popocatepetl sprayed a fountain of hot rock and ash on Monday and Tuesday in the biggest eruption in living memory -- a burst that convinced even the most skeptical residents that it was time to flee.

But on Wednesday it once again looked like a harmless mountain, its crater a dusty ridge surrounded by clouds.

VIDEO CNN's Harris Whitbeck reports the eruption has caused thousands to flee (December 20) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)     MESSAGE BOARD Share your thoughts on the Popocatepetl eruption     ALSO Popocatepetl: past to present

"It's absolutely quiet. So much so, that it's as if were talking about another volcano," said Guillermo Melgarejo, director of civil protection for Puebla state. "Its seismic activity, the tremors, have diminished considerably."

Top volcano experts told government officials that the eruption had relieved pressure inside the volcano, and that there was no longer a risk of a catastrophic eruption, a spokesman for the interior secretariat said Wednesday.

"There will no longer be a big eruption," spokesman Fernando Lopez told The Associated Press. "It's releasing pressure."

But Martha Sahagun, spokeswoman for President Vicente Fox, said officials had made no such determination. "There is no declaration to that effect," she said.

In a nearby village, thousands of people remain in shelters, urged to leave the area around the high peak for fear of a major explosion.

On Wednesday, a small group of villagers obtained passes from the authorities to enter the high-risk area in order to stage a religious procession. And even as the volcano threatened, efforts were made to make life as pleasant as possible; men were allowed to go to their homes and fields for a few hours to check up on things.

"It would be nice to go home to celebrate the birth of Jesus with our families, but at least we are calm and safe here with our children," said 38-year-old Dominga Luna, one of more than 1,000 evacuees from San Nicolas de los Ranchos, a village in the shadow of the volcano.

Shelter directors were making arrangements Wednesday for Christmas celebrations, asking for donations for gifts and pinatas for the children. Evacuees did their best to turn school classrooms into temporary homes.

Authorities say it could be several days -- or even weeks --before things get back to normal.

Ash, vapor sent residents fleeing

For days, many of the 41,000 people who live at the base of Popocatepetl had ignored warnings to leave the area -- until the volcano showered incandescent rocks and ash late Monday and early Tuesday from its glowing crater.

A shelter near the volcano in Cholula, Mexico, houses a number of residents while a maximum alert remains in effect

By Tuesday afternoon, the only signs of life in most towns within six miles of the volcano were stray dogs staggering through empty streets, donkeys braying in untended yards and groups of journalists and soldiers keeping watch in the town's main plazas.

The volcano has emitted sporadic plumes of ash and vapor since it awoke from a nearly 70-year slumber in 1994.

The peak is visible from Mexico City, a metropolis of 18 million people 40 miles (64 km) to the northwest. But the activity -- for now, at least -- had little impact on the city itself.

Huge columns of ash have been blowing south, sparing the city from a rain of soot that some had feared would clog the already-polluted air and shut down the busy international airport. Thus far, the airport has reported no interruption in service.

CNN Correspondent Harris Whitbeck, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

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