mount pinatubo

Short-term effects of the eruption

Injuries and Deaths:

• The number of injuries and deaths were vastly reduced by the excellent management of the immediate situation before the eruption. It is suggested that only 6 people died directly due to the actual eruption (by pyroclastic flow.)

Buildings damaged:

• Weight of the ash caused buildings to collapse, including 200,000 homes, a local hospital, most of the schools and many factories.

Infrastructure damaged:

• Roads became unusable (ash and lahars), bridges were destroyed (making relief operations even more difficult); electricity was cut off (for three weeks); water supplies contaminated

        

Long-term effects

• Rice harvest of 1991 ruined (due to large ash falls)
• Planting in the following years (especially 1992) was impossible
• Further lahars and landslides covered many low lying areas in thick mud
• There were lahars in 1993 and 1995 (total number of people who died [by suffocation] in all the lahars = 70)
• Over one million farm animals died (by starvation or by drinking contaminated water)
• Rural to urban migration, as hundreds of farmers & families moved to cities to seek shelter and food
• There was a lot of homelessness. Huge shanty-type refugee camps were set up.
• Disease spread rapidly in these camps (especially diarrhea, chicken-pox and malaria.)
• Over 600 people died later through disease spread through these camps
• Therefore, total death toll = about 700
• Total cost of damage and repairs = $450 million
• The ash that was ejected into the atmosphere encircled the Earth within a few days. It blocked out some of the sun’s heat for several months, and lowered world temperatures. It is believed that the eruption may have delayed global warming by a few years.

How was the eruption managed?

Very good management before and during the eruption, but they have not been as successful in the long term, mainly due to lack of funds (The Philippines is an LEDC)

Management before the eruption:

Prediction:

Accurate predictions of the eruption were made using:

• seismic data from seismometers positioned on the slopes (tremors were recorded around 2 months before the eruption)
• observations of sulphur dioxide gas and steam being given out.
• The Americans at Clark Air Base also used tiltmeters (to measure slope changes) and a satellite global positioning system (GPS) to detect movement.

        

Precautions and Preparation:

• On 5th June – Alert Level 3 was reached – villages on volcano slopes (including members of the Aeta tribe) were evacuated
• 7th June – Alert Level 4 – all villages within 10km of Mt Pinatubo, and the 15,000 people at Clark Air Base, were evacuated
• 9th June – Alert Level 5 – evacuation of all people living within 20km of the summit were evacuated
• Total number evacuated before the big eruption on 12th June = around 1 million

Short-term responses/ management after the eruption:

• Shanty-type refugee camps set up
• Emergency aid was brought into the area (eg food, drinking water, tents, blankets)
• Disaster relief from other countries (from Governments and NGO’s) was sent to the area
• Some infrastructure was repaired (eg roads cleared of ash and mud, electricity supplied again after 3 weeks)

Long-term responses/ management after the eruption

• The Philippines is an LEDC and has little money to spend on rebuilding the area devastated by the eruption
• New schools and houses have been built
• New villages away from the danger area are slowly being built
• Local authorities have tried to encourage new investment in the area (there is high unemployment eg Clark Air Force base still closed)
• Repairs to the infrastructure damaged by the eruption continues