Mt. Pinatubo
Overview Situated on the Filipino island of Luzon, Mt Pinatubo was once just another unassuming mountain peak. But in mid-march 1991, a series of frequent earthquakes rocked the area raising alarms as people realized something enormous could happen. Eventually on the 15th of June 1991 the second largest volcanic cataclysm of the 20th century occurred. Luckily due to effective pre-warning and evacuation, less than a thousand people died.
Causes Found on the edge of the Pacific Ring of Fire, Mt Pinatubo is part of a 5 volcano ridge along the islands of the Philippines, being the upper most. This ridge was formed by the destructive margin created by the Pacific Plate, made up of Oceanic crust, sub-ducting underneath the Eurasian plate, which is made of Continental Crust.
Causes Found on the edge of the Pacific Ring of Fire, Mt Pinatubo is part of a 5 volcano ridge along the islands of the Philippines, being the upper most. This ridge was formed by the destructive margin created by the Pacific Plate, made up of Oceanic crust, sub-ducting underneath the Eurasian plate, which is made of Continental Crust.
Impacts
Social- Because of the warning issued by the scientists monitoring the volcano and the evacuation of more than 20,000 people, statistics showed that less than a thousand people died even taking into the damage caused by the pyroclastic flows and lahars issued by Mt Pinatubo. These pyroclastic flows damaged and wrecked the houses and villages around the base and on the slopes of the mountain itself.
Environmental- Much of the vegetation that covered the slopes of Mt Pinatubo was destroyed by the lava bombs and pyroclastic flows blasted out, but the biggest environmental impact was the massive ash cloud that was thrown out during the eruption. This ash cloud covered 7,500 square km of the island of Luzon before the eruption had fully finished, but within the following year, the ash cloud covered the entire globe. This resulted in the lowering of global temperatures by 0.5 degrees Celsius. During the typhoon season that followed immediately afterwards the eruption, much of the ash that was thrown up during the eruption was washed down the montain side, creating devastating lahars that raised the death toll from 300 to more than 700.
Social- Because of the warning issued by the scientists monitoring the volcano and the evacuation of more than 20,000 people, statistics showed that less than a thousand people died even taking into the damage caused by the pyroclastic flows and lahars issued by Mt Pinatubo. These pyroclastic flows damaged and wrecked the houses and villages around the base and on the slopes of the mountain itself.
Environmental- Much of the vegetation that covered the slopes of Mt Pinatubo was destroyed by the lava bombs and pyroclastic flows blasted out, but the biggest environmental impact was the massive ash cloud that was thrown out during the eruption. This ash cloud covered 7,500 square km of the island of Luzon before the eruption had fully finished, but within the following year, the ash cloud covered the entire globe. This resulted in the lowering of global temperatures by 0.5 degrees Celsius. During the typhoon season that followed immediately afterwards the eruption, much of the ash that was thrown up during the eruption was washed down the montain side, creating devastating lahars that raised the death toll from 300 to more than 700.
<--- Ash cloud around the earth
<--- Eruption of Mt Pinatubo
<--- Destruction caused by Mt Pinatubo eruption