Forty-five residents moved voluntarily away from Colima, 500 kilometers (300 miles) west of Mexico City, Civil Protection said in a statement.

Other towns are far enough away to be safe from the volcano, known to be active for 500 years.

The volcano exploded twice in 48 hours, officials said, once sending an enormous plume some 4,500 meters (15,000 feet) into the air.

The blast set an all-time record in strength and altitude for Colima.

Authorities imposed an exclusion perimeter of 7.5 kilometers (4.6 miles) around the volcano.

All rights reserved. � 2005 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.