Mount Pinatubo, a stratovolcano on the Philippine island of Luzon, erupted in 1991 after being dormant for 500 years. Preceded by an earthquake, the eruption caused an ash cloud that covered thousands of square miles, causing deaths and displacement. The eruption also reduced the ozone layer and caused global temperatures to drop.
Mount Pinatubo is a volcano located on the Philippine island of Luzon. It is classified as a stratovolcano, or composite volcano, made of andesite and dacite, and covered in dense forest. The highlands of the volcano were mostly populated by the Aeta, an indigenous tribal group. The volcano had been dormant for nearly 500 years when it suddenly erupted in 1991. The eruption of Mount Pinatubo is said to have been one of the most violent volcanic calamities of the early 20th century.
The eruption of Mount Pinatubo was preceded by a magnitude 7.8 earthquake in July 1990. The earthquake’s epicenter was located 62 miles (100 km) northeast of the volcano and it is speculated that this may have triggered the resurgence of the volcano. In March 1991, a series of small earthquakes began plaguing the Mount Pinatubo area, and phreatic eruptions occurred near the volcano’s summit in April of that year. These developments eventually led to a series of major eruptions.
On June 15, 1991, an ash cloud rose from the volcano, covering an area of a few thousand square miles. This ash cloud effectively blocked out the sun, making the mid-afternoon sky dark as night over much of central Luzon. The heavy ash fall from the volcano eventually covered an area of approximately 1,544 square miles (4,000 square kilometers). A blanket of ash, which witnesses have compared to snow, reached Manila, the country’s capital. Ashfall has also been recorded in distant countries such as Vietnam, Cambodia and Malaysia.
To add to the disaster, a tropical typhoon hit the island the same day that Mount Pinatubo was set to have its most climactic eruption. Although local scientists and representatives of the US Geological Survey were on hand to monitor these developments, and although many communities were successfully evacuated before the volcano’s first major eruption, many lives were still lost. The combination of volcanic eruption and tropical typhoon was just too powerful.
Those who had escaped the wrath of the volcano were trapped by the rage of the storm, which uplifted large amounts of rock, ash and minerals around the area. Witnesses report that it appeared as if they were caught in a shower of ash and boulders. Many roofs collapsed under the weight of this debris, killing the people beneath them – people who may have already been outside the volcano’s critical line if the typhoon hadn’t struck.
The violent eruption of Mount Pinatubo claimed the lives of more than 500 people, displaced tens of thousands of families and devastated indigenous wildlife. A flow of lahars, ash and other volcanic debris continues to cover some affected areas. Mount Pinatubo has also decimated billions of dollars in property and infrastructure and displaced tens of thousands of families.
However, the effects of Mount Pinatubo don’t stop there, as the eruption was felt around the world. The volcano released over 5 billion cubic feet of ash and other pyroclastic matter into the environment and produced eruption columns reaching 18.64 miles (30 kilometers) into the air. The eruption also reduced the density of the ozone layer, achieved by injecting large amounts of aerosol into the stratosphere. The aerosols eventually formed a worldwide sulfuric acid haze, causing global temperatures to drop by an average of 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit (1 degree Celsius).
The foreign matter in Earth’s atmosphere has also provided the world with a slew of brilliant sunsets and sunrises.
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