Volcano rumbles in western Mexico

MEXICO CITY – An explosion shook a volcano in western Mexico Monday, sending a plume of ash and smoke three miles into the air and scattering hot rocks on its slopes.

It was the largest eruption in at least 15 years at Mexico’s most active volcano, said Carmen Segura Rangel, coordinator of civil defense for Mexico’s Interior Department.

Segura said an off-limits zone would be expanded to 4 1/2 miles around the crater – from four miles – though there were no evacuations at the nearest communities beyond the new zone.

The government of nearby Jalisco state said the explosion was slightly larger than one that shook the 12,533-foot volcano earlier this month.