Residents in a sleepy Mexican town fear that a new volcano is bubbling under the ground after an eruption of gas and smoke emerged from a field, local media reported.

Cracks have appeared on the ground in Pueblo Viejo in the southern state of Michoacan, with temperatures of some 250 degrees registered in the subsoil.

Local residents gathered at the site with preliminary investigations revealing that the cause of the eruption was geothermal activity from an underground swamp.

Smoke has been rising from the ground since Sunday and local authorities have set up a security cordon to stop residents from getting close and possibly getting burnt by the high temperatures. Although experts have reassured residents that a volcano will not form, residents remain sceptical. According to reports, there are over 3,000 volcanoes in Mexico but some 45 of them are considered active.