MEXICO CITY (CNN) -- Authorities are on red alert after Mexico's
                  Colima Volcano erupted Monday, spraying its slopes with lava, setting
                  off brush fires and creating a giant mushroom cloud, the Interior Ministry said.

                   Authorities evacuated 315 nearby residents after the 14,319-foot
                  (4,339-meter) volcano, also known as the "Volcano of Fire," blew its stack.

                  The mushroom-shaped cloud stretched about four miles (six kilometers)
                  high.

                  Colima Volcano borders Colima and Jalisco states about 285 miles (460
                  kilometers) west of Mexico City.

                  Mexico's Interior Ministry said the volcano sent out tremors Monday
                  morning, when local officials began evacuating people from six villages near
                  the volcano.

                  By Monday afternoon the volcano let loose with an "intense explosion" that
                  was heard for "several tens of kilometers," the Interior Ministry said.

                  "Just as it did in a similar event on February 10, the explosion launched
                  incandescent fragments for several kilometers without reaching any
                  populated areas," the Interior Ministry said.

                                    Reuters contributed to this report.