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CASE STUDY VOLCANO MT. PINATUBO
Location
Mount Pinatubo is a volcano located in the continent of Asia
on the island of Luzon in the Philippines. Settled in the
central part of the Zambales mountain range, the volcano
lies 55 miles northwest of the capital city of Manila.
Type
Mount Pinatubo is a Stratovolcano which means it is made
from layers of ash and lava. It is located at the plate
boundary between to the Eurasian and Philippine Plate. It
is one of a chain of volcanoes known as the Luzon volcanic
arc. It is a destructive plate boundary. The dense Oceanic
Philippine plate sinks below the Continental Eurasian
plate. The oceanic plate is destroyed and this creates more
magma which rises to from the volcanic eruption of Mt.
Pinatubo.
Last Eruption
After lying dormant for approximately 500 years, the volcano’s eruption in June 1991 was one
of the most destructive volcanic eruptions of the 20th century. It is still an active volcano.
Thick deposits of tephra,
pyroclastic flows, and lahars
caused significant damage to the economy and
infrastructure of surrounding cities. Ash deposits 5 cm
thick or more covered a land area of about 4,000 square kilometers burning crops and other
plant life around Pinatubo. A typhoon hit the area after the eruption. The weight of the rain-
saturated ash, earthquake shaking and strong winds, caused numerous roofs to collapse in
the communities around the volcano. The eruption lasted about nine hours.
Before the Eruption
Scientists from the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology and the U.S. Geological
Survey had estimate Pinatubo's 1991 climactic eruption, resulting in the saving of at least
5,000 lives and at least $250 million in property. Commercial aircraft were warned about the
hazard of the ash cloud from the June 15 eruption, and most avoided it, but a number of jets
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flying far to the west of the Philippines faced ash and sustained about $100 million in damage.
Although much equipment was successfully protected, structures on the two largest U.S.
military bases in the Philippines, Clark Air Base and Subic Bay Naval Station were heavily
damaged by ash from the volcano's climactic eruption.
Benefits
Living near a volcano gives you some benefits. You have fertile land and new land is created.
There is also a lot of tourism as volcanic areas are seen by people as being symbolic and are
part of the national identity. You can also find mineral deposits.
Impacts of the Eruption
Nearly 20 million tons of sulfur dioxide were injected into the stratosphere in Pinatubo's 1991
eruptions, and the dispersal of this gas cloud around the world caused global temperatures
to drop temporarily, between 1991 and 1993 by about 0.5°C. The eruptions have dramatically
changed the face of central Luzon, home to about 3 million people. About 20,000 indigenous
Aeta highlanders, who had lived on the slopes of the volcano, were completely evacuated,
and most still wait in resettlement camps for the day when they can return home. About
200,000 people who evacuated from the lowlands surrounding Pinatubo before and during
the eruptions returned home but still faced continuing threats from lahars that have already
buried numerous towns and villages. More than 350 people died during the eruption, most
of them from collapsing roofs. Disease that broke out in evacuation camps and the continuing
lahars in the area caused additional deaths, bringing the total death toll to 847 people. The
event left more than 200,000 people homeless. Houses and bridges were destroyed and
needed replacing and Manila airport had to be closed. Farmland was destroyed by falling ash
and pumice, unusable for years, the 1991 harvest was destroyed and 650,000 people lost
their jobs.
Sources
https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/hazard/stratoguide/pinfeat.html
http://mountpinatubo.net
https://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/1997/fs113-97/
google images
