Colima volcano from afar

This is from a month ago and the big eruption. Taken from a boat while fishing offshore of Playa de Cocos close to Barra de Navidad in Jalisco. I could have seen it from my roof but didn't know to look.

Eruption and Lightning

A volcanic eruption which proves that reality can overtake fantasy. At dawn on Sunday 6 December 2015 occurred this magnificent explosion incandescent Colima Volcano, accompanied by lightning and pyroclastic. Photo taken from the viewpoint of the volcano lagoon Carrizalillos, Comala 12.5 km away the crater.

Colima Volcano very active

Volcan de Fuego has been extremely active for the last week. That daytime shot is unbelievable. Looks like the end of the world.

Volcán de Fuego Erupts

Mexican Volcano of Fire has erupted shooting an ash column 5 kilometers into the air and covering towns as far as 25 kilometers from the peak.

Mexico's federal civil defense office said that no injuries or evacuations have been reported as Colima volcano spewed hot, dry rock and gases two kilometers from the crater at about 12:24 local time.

"We recommend that people cover their nose and mouth, protect sources of potable water, and avoid dumping ash in drainage systems because it hardens with moisture," national civil protection coordinator Luis Felipe Puente told Foro television.

For now, the situation does not present a risk to the population, however, the Interior Ministry will send a team to conduct an evaluation of the activity at the crater. The team will be headed by the Director General of Civil Protection, Ricardo de la Cruz Musalem, and staff from the National Center for Disaster Prevention.

Ash fall is reported in the municipalities of Tonila, Zapotiltic, Jalisco, Quesería, and Colima, at distances of up to 25 kilometers from the volcano.

The 3,820-meter volcano lies 690 kilometers northwest of Mexico City, on the border of Colima and Jalisco states and is considered to be one of the most dangerous in North America.

Mexico's Colima Volcano Spouts Ash, Hot Rock

Pajaro Bandera

PÁJARO BANDERA.
"tzinitzcan" (nahuatl)
Trogon mexicanus Swainson 1827 (TROGONIDAE)

The forests surrounding the Laguna La Maria; the volcano of Colima and Sierra Manantlán -Municipios Comala and Minatitlan (Biosphere Reserve) are inhabited by one of the rarest bird species in Mexico: the bandera bird, a close relative of the quetzal, distinguished for having the green, white and red feathers.

In 2000, in the Biosphere Reserve of Manantlán, Jalisco, this species was used as a symbol of environmental pride, and as charismatic species to encourage support for the Reserve, in order to induce the reduction of forest fires caused by agricultural activities. This campaign lasted three years, generating positive results for species conservation and the environment.

Colima Volcano Erupting

This is a screen capture of the University of Colima web cam erupting today. The volcano destroyed it's lava dome back in January and has been erupting regularly ever since. Here's a link to the web cam and you might get lucky.  Volcán de Fuego - Cam

U of Colima Cam

Zona Magica Colima

An interesting stop for a few minutes is the Zona Magica on the road from Comala to Suchitlan, various lakes in the area and good volcano views. I've stopped numerous times, usually with a friend that has not been to the area or tested the phenomenon.

There are laterals (side roads) in this section so you don't get a lot of cars stopping in the middle of the highway. You can either pull off to the side or if you're sure there is no traffic stop on the highway. In the right location, your car will roll uphill, water will run uphill ... and my favorite, a beer can will roll uphill ... while you swear they should go the other way

Even though there are stories of magnetic forces in the area ... I'm convinced it's simply an optical illusion. A combination of the landscape and the road construction ... but that spoils all the fun.

The Magic Zone

Some great fotos of Colima

I found these on SkyscraperCity.com and just had to include them. Skyscraper is a site where people talk about buildings, cities and locations from all over the world ... and post fotos of same.

Click on fotos to make them a little larger

Colima and the volcano in the evening

Colima and the volcano during the day

Central plaza street corner

Teatro Hidalgo

Church interior on the central plaza

Colima's Quiet Charm

Colima's Quiet Charm
By KATHERINE ASHENBURG
Published: February 8, 2004

The city's situation near two volcanoes and in an earthquake zone means that it has little architecture worthy of the name, old or new, and the standard building is a ground-hugging, one-story structure. Perched on the edge of disaster, fading, peeling, dignified Colima continues its precarious life without pinning its hopes on grand monuments or dressing up for visitors. Last year an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.8 caused at least nine deaths in Colima and hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage. Each room in the Ceballos has a ceramic sign in the archway between bedroom and bathroom that says, ''En caso de sismo, párese aquí'' (''In case of earthquake, stand here''). This year, I eyed the decorative plaque with new respect.

As a result of the earthquake, Colima now has an estimated 500 construction sites. Every so often, there's a rubble-strewn lot between two standing houses, like a missing tooth in a smiling mouth. One of the city's few remaining colonial buildings, the church of San Felipe de Jesús, at Constitución and Vicente Guerrero, has an elaborately carved 18th-century facade and a plaque noting that the revolutionary hero Miguel Hidalgo served here as a parish priest. Ominous cracks run like veins behind the altar, and the congregation has decamped to the chapel, leaving the main church bare except for a few lonely statues.

New York Times article