Mount Pinatubo (Sambal: Bakil nin Pinatobo; Kapampangan: Bunduk/Bulkan

ning Pinatubu, Bunduk ning Apu Malyari; Pangasinan: Palandey/Bulkan na

Pinatubu; Ilokano: Bantay Pinatubo; Tagalog: Bundok/Bulkang Pinatubo) is
an activestratovolcano in the Zambales Mountains, located on
the tripoint boundary of the Philippine
provinces of Zambales, Tarlac and Pampanga, all in Central Luzon on the
northern island of Luzon.[3][4] Its eruptive history was unknown to most before
the pre-eruption volcanic activities of 1991, just before June. Pinatubo was
heavily eroded, inconspicuous and obscured from view. It was covered with
dense forests which supported a population of several thousand
indigenous Aetas.

Pinatubo is most notorious for its Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) 6 eruption
on June 15, 1991, the second-largest terrestrial eruption of the 20th century
after the 1912 eruption of Novarupta in Alaska.[5] Complicating the eruption
was the arrival of Typhoon Yunya, bringing a lethal mix of ash and rain to
towns and cities surrounding the volcano. Predictions at the onset of the
climactic eruption led to the evacuation of tens of thousands of people from
the surrounding areas, saving many lives. Surrounding areas were severely
damaged by pyroclastic surges, ash falls, and subsequently, by the
flooding lahars caused by rainwater re-mobilizing earlier volcanic deposits.
This caused extensive destruction to infrastructure and changed river systems
for years after the eruption.[5][6]

The effects of the eruption were felt worldwide. It ejected roughly

10,000,000,000 tonnes (1.1×1010 short tons) or 10 km3(2.4 cu mi) of
magma, and 20,000,000 tonnes (22,000,000 short tons) of SO
2, bringing vast quantities of minerals and toxic metals to the surface
environment. It injected more particulate into the stratosphere than any
eruption since Krakatoa in 1883. Over the following months, the aerosols
formed a global layer of sulfuric acid haze. Global temperatures dropped by
about 0.5 °C (0.9 °F) in the years 1991–93,[7] and ozone depletion
temporarily increased substantially.[8]