By Andy Shin
Location of Volcano
Location:
Zambales, Luzon, Philippines
Tarlac, Luzon, Philippines
Pampanga, Luzon, Philippines
Range: Zambales Mountains
Coordinates:15°08’30”N 120°21’00”E
Place on World Map
Philippine
Place on Regional Map
Location in Plate Boundary
Philippine on Philippine
sea plate
Why are people attracted to
volcanoes?
Minerals:
-When magma rises from deep inside earth, in contains variety of minerals such as tin, silver, copper, gold
and sometimes diamond as well. Sp it is good for both large scale mining, and small scale local
activities.
-Hot gases from vents bring minerals (especially sulphur) to the surface. This collects around vents as it
condenses and becomes solid. Locals collect this and sells it.
Geothermal energy:
-The heat from underground steam is used to turn turbines and by doing this, we produce electricity.
-The heat from underground steam is used to heat water supplies that are used to provide household
heating and hot water.
Fertile soil:
-The volcanic rocks and ash need thousands of years to form soil. However when they weather and break
down and form soils, it is one of the richest on the planet.
-When it has rich soil, people live there to produce rich fruits, vegetables, and others.
Tourism:
-Volcanoes attract millions of tourists every year.
-Around volcanoes there can maybe be warm bathing lakes, hot spring, bubbling mud pools, and steam
vents. Also, people go there to see the wild, raw, and barren volcanic landscape, huge waterfalls,
wildlife, climbing, hiking and others.
-Tourism can create jobs in shops, restaurants, hotels, and others.
How was the place like before the
eruption?

About 30,000 people lived on the side of the volcano in villages and
other small groups.

The last eruption before 1991 was about 450 years ago, so most of the
mountain and its peaks were completely covered in dense rainforest,
so this supported the hunter-gathering Aeta.

On the surrounding flatter areas, the large amount of rain caused by
the monsoon climate (almost 4m annually), and the fertile volcanic soils
gave perfect conditions for agriculture, so a lot of people grew rice,
fruits, and other foods.

Mount Pinatubo was a source to many major river systems, such as the
Bucao river, Santo Tomas river, Maloma river, and other important
rivers, which were significant ecosystems before the eruption.
These maybe the reasons why people lived near Mount Pinatubo.
Before the eruption
Damage caused
Causalities: 2.1 million people affected
364 communities affected
Over 847 people killed
184 people injured
23 people missing
100,000 people homeless
Infrastructure: More then 8,000 houses completely destroyed
Further 73,000 houses damaged
Roads, bridges and communications were damaged or destroyed because of
pyroclastic flows and lahars
Many hospitals, schools, and factories were collapsed by the weight of the ash
Power supplies were cut for 3 weeks and water supplies contaminated
About 3.8 billion pesos used to repair
Agriculture: 800 square km of rice-growing farmland destroyed
About 800,000 livestock and poultry died because of starvation or drinking contaminated water
About 1.5 billion pesos of agriculture damage



Many reforestation projects were destroyed, total area of 150 square km (37,000 acres), and valued at 125
million pesos.
Damage to healthcare facilities
Education for thousands of children was seriously disrupted, because of the destruction of schools.
Immediate effects

2.1 million people and 364 communities affected.

847 people dead, 184 people injured, 23 people
missing and 100,000 people homeless.

About 800,000 livestock and poultry died because
of starvation or drinking contaminated water.

Enormous volume of ash and lava resulted to 10%
reduction in the amount of sunlight reaching earth’s
surface.
Long term effect

Millions of tons of sulfur dioxide were released to the
atmosphere when the eruption happened. This resulted
to a decrease in the temperature worldwide for a couple
of years.

After the eruption happened, every rainy season brought
more lahars and mudflows, which lead to the
displacement of thousands of people.

Hundreds of square km of arable soil became infertile,
which destroyed the lives of thousands of farmers.

The eruption caused a lot of effect on the ozone levels in
the atmosphere, which caused a large increase in the
destruction rate of ozone.
Damage
Global effects
The powerful eruption injected significant quantities of aerosols and dust into the
stratosphere. This resulted in a reduction in sunlight reaching the Earth’s surface
by about 10%.
-Decrease in Northern hemisphere average temperatures by 0.5~0.6C. Also global
fall of 0.4C.
-Temperature in the stratosphere rose higher than normal, because of the absorption
of radiation by the aerosols.

Effect on ozone levels in the atmosphere, which caused a large increase in the
destruction rate of ozone.
-Mid-latitudes reached their lowest recorded levels.
-Southern hemisphere winter of 1992, the ozone hole over Antarctica was its largest
size until then.
-Fastest recorded ozone depletion rates.

The dust in the atmosphere affected the appearance of the lunar eclipse.
-Usually even at mid-eclipse, we can still see the moon slightly, however the Pinatubo
eruption caused the moon to be hardly visible during eclipses. This happened
because the dust in the atmosphere absorbed great amount of sunlight.

Ash and aerosol emissions from Mount Pinatubo (Satellite measurement)
Why did the volcano erupt?
The volcano erupted because the
Philippine plate slide under the Eurasian
plate because it is more dense.
Sources
Picture:
http://www.earlham.edu/~rhoderu/RoMarianas.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:TOMS_AI_Jun16_91.gif
http://maps-world.cn/map/world_map.GIF
http://www.geography-site.co.uk/pages/physical/earth/images/rof.gif
http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/1997/fs114-97/resources/LaharMap1.gif
http://www.uwec.edu/jolhm/EH2/Lennon/Pre-eruption_Pinatubo.jpg
http://www.lakbaypilipinas.com/images/mount_pinatubo.jpg
http://tonetcarlo.files.wordpress.com/2008/01/climbing-over-mt-pinatubo.jpg
http://pinaykeypoint.files.wordpress.com/2008/12/pinatubo-trekking97.jpg
http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Imgs/Jpg/Pinatubo/Images/Pinatubo91_lahar_and_tephra_damage_sapangbato_06-22-91_med.jpg
http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/ash/build/32923351-028_large.jpg
http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/1997/fs115-97/images/Pinatubofleeing.jpg
http://geology.com/volcanoes/volcanic-hazards/volcanic-ash-weight-lg.jpg
http://www.smate.wwu.edu/teched/geology/GeoHaz/vo-Mt-Pinatubo/vo-Mt-Pinatubo-14.JPG
Information:
http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20091021111728AA0TaKU
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Pinatubo
http://park.org/Philippines/pinatubo/
http://geography.about.com/od/globalproblemsandissues/a/pinatubo.htm
http://www.geography-site.co.uk/pages/physical/earth/volcanoes/why%20people%20live%20near%20volcanoes.html
http://www.mattmayer.com/essays/pin91.htm
The End