Mt.

Pinatubo

Disaster can strike at random, horribly unexpected tsunamis, earthquakes and tornados.
We also have ways of detecting nature's worst situations. Seismographs to detect
earthquakes, buoys that will send signals to let a coastal city know of an incoming
tsunami. History has endless records of disasters, both human caused and naturally caused.
The eruption of Mount Pinatubo is just one of them.

The first possible precursor of the eruption would have been a recorded 7.7 magnitude
earthquake, and two weeks later steam was reported slightly pouring out the top of the
volcano [the epicenter of the earthquake was 100km away from Pinatubo], this event
was recorded on June 16 of 1990. Following the earthquake came months of minor
earthquakes, landslides, steam coming from ducts alongside the volcano and many other
precursors of a potentially explosive eruption. The residents of the area realized that the
explosivity of the volcano was a serious threat when the SO2 emissions that had
previously been at 5,000 short tonnes decreased substantially; giving the idea that the
magma rising had been blocked, which could lead to a potentially horrible eruption.

Following the eruption, for twelve weeks after, many citizens were sick and
approximately 354 people died (PubMed journal, April 10/11) from multiple reasons
including measles (31%), respiratory infections (22%) and diahrea. The last two causes
of death were caused from dirty water filled with ash and pyroclastic debris, but the
measles were caused by the movement of hundreds of people.

Measles are most commonly spread by drip from the nasal cavity or throat coming
out and coming into contact with other individuals, and with the close contact of
citizens, the coughing and sneezing (from ash being in the air) caused the droplets of
infection to travel and many people to be infected (PubMed journal,April 10/11). The
most commonly affected individuals were the Aeta tribe, who had lived in isolation
and were not built up to these types of diseases.

Mt. Krakatoa

The eruption of Krakatoa in August 1883 was one of the most deadly volcanic
eruptions of modern history. It is estimated that more than 36,000 people died.
Many died as a result of thermal injury from the blasts and many more were victims
of the tsunamis that followed the collapse of the volcano into the caldera below sea
level.

The island of Krakatau (Krakatoa) is in the Sunda Strait between Java and
Sumatra. It is part of the Indonesian Island Arc. Volcanic activity is due to
subduction of the Indo-Australian tectonic plate as it moves northward towards
mainland Asia. The island is about 3 miles wide and 5.5 miles long (9 by 5
kilometers). Before the historic eruption, it had three linked volcanic peaks:
Perboewatan, the northernmost and most active; Danan in the middle; and the
largest, Rakata, forming the southern end of the island. Krakatau and the two
nearby islands, Lang and Verlatan, are remnants of a previous large eruption that
left an undersea caldera between them.

At 12:53 p.m. on Sunday the 26th, the initial blast of the eruption sent a cloud of
gas and debris an estimated 15 miles (24 km) into the air above Perboewatan. It
is thought that debris from the earlier eruptive activity must have plugged the
neck of the cone, allowing pressure to build in the magma chamber. On the
morning of the 27th, four tremendous explosions, heard as far away as Perth,
Australia, some 2,800 miles (4,500 km) distant, plunged both Perboewatan and
Danan into the caldera below the sea.

The explosions hurled an estimated 11 cubic miles (45 cubic km) of debris into
the atmosphere darkening skies up to 275 miles (442 km) from the volcano. In
the immediate vicinity, the dawn did not return for three days. Barographs
around the globe documented that the shock waves in the atmosphere circled
the planet at least seven times. Within 13 days, a layer of sulfur dioxide and
other gases began to filter the amount of sunlight able to reach Earth. The
atmospheric effects made for spectacular sunsets all over Europe and the
United States. Average global temperatures were up to 1.2 degrees cooler for
the next five years.