Puebla, Mexico, Apr 18 (EFE).- Several eruptions of the Popocatepetl volcano left the city of Puebla covered with a white cloud at sunrise Monday, which led authorities to decree a yellow alert, which obliges residents to take preventive measures to protect food and drinking water.

According to a report by the Cenapred disaster management agency, starting at 2:32 a.m. there was “an increase in (volcanic) activity, along with continued blasts of incandescent fragments that traveled approximately 1.6 kilometers (1 mile), falling principally onto the northeast slope.”

“The column of ash reached a height of approximately 3 kilometers (2 miles) above the crater, and then drifted away in an east-northeasterly direction,” he said.

Cenapred told everyone “DO NOT APPROACH the volcano and least of all the crater, because of the danger of falling ballistic fragments,” and recommended that locals “maintain a security radius of 12 kilometers (7 1/2 miles)” around the volcano.

The explosion of ash has been rated the strongest since 1994 and has blanketed with white the entire Puebla valley, located at 130 kilometers (80 miles) east of Mexico City.

Cenapred has reported ash also falling on the municipalities of San Pedro Juarez, San Nicolas de los Ranchos, Tianguismanalco, San Martin Texmelucan, Huejotzingo, and even on the neighboring state of Tlaxcala.

Puebla state’s Education Secretary Patricia Vazquez del Mercado has said that classes will continue but that all outdoor activities will be suspended, while urging students to wear face masks to school.

The Hermanos Serdan International Airport in the city of Puebla has been closed down due to the volcanic activity, but flights are expected to be resumed around noon Monday. EFE