Mt.
Pinatubo lies at the intersection of the borders of Zambales, Tarlac and Pampanga.
Before the volcanic activities in 1991, its eruptive history was unknown to
most people. It was covered with dense forest which supported a population of
several thousand indigenous people, the Aetas.
In
June 15, 1991, after a long period of dormancy, Mt. Pinatubo erupted violently that
it was considered the second largest volcanic eruption of the twentieth
century. The eruption lasted for nine hours causing numerous earthquakes due to
the collapse of the summit and the creation of caldera. Up to 800 people were
killed and 100,000 became homeless. Millions of tons of sulfur dioxide were
discharged into the atmosphere resulting in the decrease in the temperature
worldwide over the next few years. Complicating the eruption was the arrival of
typhoon Yunya bringing a lethal mix of ash and rain. Thousands of people were
evacuated but the surrounding areas were severely damaged by pyroclasitc flows,
ash deposits and lahars caused by rain waters, re-mobilizing earlier volcanic
deposits destroying thousands of infrastructures and altering the river systems
months to years after the eruption.
The
events of the 1991 Mt. Pinatubo eruption began in July 1990, when a magnitude
7.8 earthquake occurred 100 kilometers northeast of the Pinatubo region,
determined to be a result of the reawakening of Mt. Pinatubo
 |
| many were homeless, billions pesos of damage to properties |
Decade
after its catastrophic eruption, Mt. Pinatubo’s serene cyan-colored crater
lake, canyons made of pyroclasitc materials and the growing tropical rainforest
has made it a popular tourist destination attracting many local and foreign
visitors.
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| the resulting crater lake of the 1991 Mt. Pinatubo eruption, slowly becoming popular tourist spot |
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