THE ERUPTION OF

MT. PINATUBO IN
1991
Group 3
❑ Before the eruption occurs, a magnitude of 7.8 earthquake struck 60 miles or 100
km. northeast of Mt. Pinatubo, because of the earthquakes and landslides, it
increased the stream emission from a pre-existing Geothermal Area.

❑ Thousand tons of noxious sulfur dioxide gas were also emitted by the volcano.
 Before 1991, was unremarkable and heavily eroded mountain. It
was covered in dense forest which supported a population of
several thousand indigenous people, the AETA.

 They were hunter gatherer people who were extremely successful in

surviving in the dense jungles.
 In Mid-March 1991, villagers around Mt. Pinatubo began feeling earthquakes and
after several explosions a Level 5 alert was issued indicating an eruption was in the
process.

 On the 15th of June 1991, the largest volcanic eruption of the twentieth
century took place when Mt. Pinatubo erupted at 1:42 P.M. local time.

 The eruption lasted for 9 hours and caused several large earthquakes which
resulted in the collapse of the summit and the creation of a caldera.
 At the time of the eruption, Tropical Storm Yunya was passing to the northeast of Mt.
Pinatubo, causing a large amount of rainfall in the region.

 There was 10 cm. of ash covering an area of 2000 square kilometers and
most of the 800 people who died during the eruption died due to the weight
of the ash collapsing roofs.

 In addition to that, there was almost half a billion dollars in property and
economic damage. The economy of central Luzon was horribly disrupted
and the Aeta people were the hardest hit.
o The total destruction of many villages meant that many Aeta
were unable to return to their former way of life.

o The volcanic eruption and the typhoon that entered the area when the
volcano was erupting, turned the breadbasket of the Philippines into a
desolate waste.
 After the eruption ended, a crater lake was formed which was hot and
acidic. Abundant rainfall cooled and diluted the lake and increased its
depth by about 1 meter per month on average.

 In September 2001, fears that the walls of the crater might be unstable
prompted the Philippine government to order a controlled draining of
the lake.
REFERENCES
Page and Sites:
www.tekkingpinatubo.com
www.slideshare.com

 Images:
pressreader.com sites.google.com
news.abs-cbn.com correspondent.afp.com
nigeldickinson.photoshelter.com shutterstock.com
gmanetwork.com sciencesource.com
sfgate.com kids.britannica.com
preda.org wanderbaker.wordpress.com
traveling-up.com awanderfulsole.com
viganttintourism.com earthpbl.wordpress.com
volquake.weebly.com