Mount Pinatubo

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 active stratovolcano 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 saw a
substantial increase.