The Eruption of

Mount Pinatubo
1991

The second-largest volcanic eruption of the last century,

and by far the largest eruption to affect a densely populated
area, occurred at Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines on
June 15, 1991.
The eruption produced high-speed avalanches of hot ash
and gas, giant mudflows, and a cloud of volcanic ash
hundreds of miles across.
The impacts of the eruption continue to this day.

The Location of Pinatubo

Events leading up to the eruption

April 2nd 1991
First rumblings after 450
years.
Small amount of ash thrown
up to 800 metres in the air

For next 2 months small

tremors were recorded in the
volcano.

June 3rd 1991

Pinatubo ejects ash which
lasts for 30 minutes.

Up to 2,000 quakes a day,

some suggesting that the
magma was getting near the
surface.

Sunday June 9th 1991

Ash and steam ejected
from the volcano for 8
hours.
Pyroclastic flows
reached 5km from the
crater.

Wednesday June 12th 1991

At 8.51 a.m. three major explosions
sent a mushroom shaped cloud over
20km into the air.
Ash, pumice and other fragments
were ejected.
Rivers overflowed due to pyroclastic
flows.
Around midnight more explosions
sent ash 25 km into the atmosphere.

Thursday June 13th 1991

Another violent eruption
created further ash falls
covering three settlements.
Winds carried the ash hundreds
of kilometres in all directions.

Friday June 14th 1991

The fourth major eruption happened at
1.09 p.m. Ash went 25 km above the
vent.
At 3.30 p.m. a much bigger eruption
sent a cauliflower-shaped cloud of
volcanic debris 30 km into the air.
Major pyroclastic flows reached 15km
from the volcano.
Smaller eruptions at 6.35 pm, 10.18 pm
and 11.21 pm.

Saturday June 15th 1991

Two eruptions occurred at dawn which
caused a pyroclastic flow travelling at
80 kph.
Seven more eruptions caused an ash
cloud 18 km wide and 25 km high.
Pyroclastic flows reach 16 km from the
volcano.
At 10.27 a.m. a violent eruption forced
debris up 40 km into the air. Five
similar eruptions quickly followed.
Over 19 eruptions during the day!

The Effects of the Eruption

Up to 12km3 of rock and

ash were blasted into he
atmosphere

Before the Eruption

After the Eruption

A large area around the

volcano was affected by
ash deposits, pyroclastic
flows and mudflows
(lahars)

The
Effects
of the
Ash

Pyroclastic flows

The effects of lahars

Before the eruption

After the eruption

Before the eruption

After the eruption

Before the eruption

After the eruption

The Global
Effects of the
Eruption

The Global Effects of the Eruption

847 people killed.

184 injured.
23 missing presumed dead.
1.18 million people affected
Houses and public buildings collapsed from weight of ash deposits.
650,000 workers forced out of work due to destruction of farms, shops and
factories.
America had to evacuate their Air Force Base.
Volcanic dust blanketed towns.
Public buildings had to be used for evacuation centres to accommodate
refugees from devastated area.

Planning
Volcanic eruptions are not preventable but
planning and preparation can drastically reduce
death tolls and limit damage
Volcanoes can be preceded by gas emissions this
helps understand when they are going to erupt.
The evacuation of villages around Pinatubo saved
lives
The problem was that the evacuation centers
lacked sanitation this resulted in a loss of life
through the spread of disease

PHILVOLCS and USGS

Seismic testing by USGS and PHILVOLCS
located earthquakes which gave adequate
warning
S02 levels were also found to be very high
another indicator of imminent eruption
A hazard map was completed to aid
evacuation

Evacuation
5th April villages within 10km of summit
evacuated
12th April evacuation area extended to 30km and
200,000 people evacuated
Some Aeta people refused to leave the mountain
due to a lack of understanding about the eruption
Aeta people died in evacuation centres as they
refused to take medicines