Mt.

Pinatubo,
1991 Eruption
Erupted on the island of Luzon in the
Philippines
 AN OVERVIEW
• Mount Pinatubo is a stratovolcano located
on the island of Luzon
• Cataclysmic eruption occurred on 15 June
1991
• Second-largest eruption of the 20th 2
century
• Largest eruption to affect a densely
populated area
• Plates causing the eruption were Eurasian
and the Philippines plate
• Had been dormant for over 400 years
• 6 on the VEI
 EXPERTS’ ROLE
• Time forecasts of this eruption by scientists
from the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and
Seismology and the USGS enabled people
living near the volcano to evacuate to safe
distances

• Both institutions declared a 6-mile radius

danger zone around the volcano

• Commercial aircraft were warned about the CAUSES 3

hazard of the ash cloud and most managed to
avoid it • 7.8 earthquake on 16 July 1990 that struck
~100km NE of Mount Pinatubo
• jets flying far to the west of the Philippines
encountered ash and sustained ~$100mil in • In March and April 1991, magma rising toward
damaged the surface from >32km beneath Pinatubo
triggered small earthquakes and caused
powerful steam explosions that blasted 3 craters

• From 7-12 June, the first magma oozed out to

form a lava dome
 SOCIAL
POLITICAL • ~200k people who evacuated from lowlands faced threats ENVIRONMENTAL
• avalanches of pyroclastic flows filled
• In 1995, a 56km U-shaped mega dike • 350 people died during the eruption, death toll went up to
722. valleys with volcanic deposits
costing 2.7mil pesos was built as a
catch basin for the Pasig-Potrero
River • 5k houses were destroyed, 70k houses were damaged by • Ash deposits remobilised by typhoons
secondary hazards in 1991 and followed river paths
• the dike drowned 3 towns when a • 50k families lost their homes, 8k were Aeta
section of it collapsed – loss • ~43,800 hectares of land buried by ash
of 38.9mil pesos • Water resources and social infrastructure most affected- • At high altitudes, volcanic ash was blown
USD $142 million, 8 rivers clogged forming lakes
SW, lower altitudes in all directions
because of an coincidentally occurring 4
• 364 villages affected, most wiped out by lahars e.g typhoon (Typhoon Diding).
Mapanuepe Valley

• Roofs made of timber suffered the most damage opposed

to roofs reinforced with concrete and steep sides

• Increase in morbidity and mortality rates occurred mainly

in evacuation centers

• Leading diseases were acute respiratory infections,

diarrhea and measles

• Overpopulation in the low lands

• 650k people lost their jobs

• 20k indigenous Aeta highlanders, who had
lived on the slopes of the volcano, were
completely displaced and many still wait in
resettlement camps

IMPACTS ON THE NATIVES

• The mountain and forest where Aeta
highlanders settled in were all wiped out
5
• Death rate was especially high among Aeta
children due to lack of immunity against
diseases that they have rarely encountered
before

• Significant changes in the lifestyle and

practices of Aeta highlanders after
displacement by the eruption
Impacts on the Aeta highlanders
 Global Temperatures
As a result global temperatures to dropped
temporarily between 1991-3 by ~0.5°C

INTERNATIONAL IMPACTS
SO2 Aircrafts
17 megatons of sulfur A number of jets flying far to the
dioxide were released west of the Philippines 6
into the atmosphere encountered ash and sustained
~$100mil in damages
RESPONSE
● Rapid response directed by the National Disaster Coordinating
Council

● Emergency relief, health service and disease surveillance was

provided to displaced families in evacuation centres

● Health advisories were also directed to guide the public in coping

with ash fall
7

● Humanitarian relief assistance from

countries eg Australia (USD$185k)

● The government recovery and reconstruction

plan addressed issues regarding resettlement
(of Aeta and lowlander groups)

● Efforts to civilise Aetas

 CREDITS
• geotallis. n.d. Mount Pinatubo. [online] Available at:
<http://geotallis.weebly.com/mount-
pinatubo.html#:~:text=Causes,the%20penetrate%20the%20earths%20s
urface.> [Accessed 28 September 2020].
• Volcanodiscovery.com. 2020. Pinatubo. [online] Available at:
<https://www.volcanodiscovery.com/pinatubo.html#:~:text=The%20Pin
atubo%20eruption%20on%2015,been%20dormant%20for%20400%20y
ears.> [Accessed 28 September 2020].
• Ngdc.noaa.gov. n.d. Pinatubo - Eruption Features. [online] Available at:
<https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/hazard/stratoguide/pinfeat.html#:~:text=
More%20than%20350%20people%20died,death%20toll%20to%20722%
20people.> [Accessed 28 September 2020].
• Earthobservatory.nasa.gov. 2020. Global Effects Of Mount Pinatubo.
[online] Available at: 8
<https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/1510/global-effects-of-
mount-pinatubo> [Accessed 30 September 2020].
• Parry, W., 2011. 20 Years After Pinatubo: How Volcanoes Could Alter
Climate. [online] livescience.com. Available at:
<https://www.livescience.com/14513-pinatubo-volcano-future-climate-
change-
eruption.html#:~:text=The%20largest%20volcanic%20eruption%20in,rai
n%20patterns%20to%20shift%20temporarily.&text=Scientists%20agree
%20that%20similar%20eruptions%20around%20the%20world%20are%
20inevitable.> [Accessed 30 September 2020].
• Geolsoc.org.uk. n.d. The Geological Society Of London - Mount Pinatubo,
Philippines. [online] Available at: <https://www.geolsoc.org.uk/Policy-
and-Media/Outreach/Plate-Tectonic-Stories/Cwm-Idwal/Mount-
Pinatubo#:~:text=It%20is%20a%20subduction%2Drelated,the%20volca
nism%20typical%20of%20subduction.> [Accessed 30 September 2020].