ROUGH CUT (NO REPORTER NARRATION)<br/> <br />Mexico's Popocatepetl volcano unleashed another wave of powerful exhalations and explosions in the early hours of Thursday (May 23), officials reported.<br/> <br />Hundreds of individual exhalations reaching up to 2.5 km (1.5 miles) of smoke and ash spewed out of Popocatepetl in the latest escalation in activity. An explosion at 02:54 local time (06:54GMT) also sent fragments out over 1.5 kilometers (0.9 miles), Mexico's National Centre for Disaster Prevention reported.<br/> <br />In the shadow of the stirring volcano, residents of Santiago Xalizintla went about their daily lives as town officials reviewed emergency routes for possible evacuation.<br/> <br />The alert level for Popocatepetl remains at yellow phase three, the third-highest warning on the centre's seven-step scale, and locals have been advised to stay put until further instructions from authorities.<br/> <br />With up to 50,000 residents across 24 towns at risk from volcanic gases and lava flow, autho
