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1550
Mount Pinatubo forms
Mount Pinatubo is found in Luzon, Philippines, and was 4,800 feet when is was first formed. -
Magnitude 7.8 earthquake hits near Mount Pinatubo.
This is said to be the cause of the awakening of the volcano. -
Mt Pinatubo Awakens
Pinatubo awakens after about 400 years. Loud rumbling noises were heard near Pinatubo, and a landslide occurred near the summit. Steam vents also appeared on the ground. -
More Earthquakes
About 200 small earthquakes are measured under Mt Pinatubo. -
Mount Pinatubo Begins To Erupt
After a couple months of small explosions, Mount Pinatubo begins the official eruptions. -
Ash Eruptions
Ash eruptions increase even more, creating a plume reaching 25 km elevation after a short pause of 28 hours with no explosions. -
Big Boom
A violent explosion occurs at 1:09 pm. The eruption column rises to about 13 miles in 15 minutes. -
Mount Pinatubo Reaches a Peak
Mount Pinatubo's worst part of the eruptions was in between June 14-16. It produced a column of ash and smoke about 19 miles high, with rocks and debris falling the same distance from the volcano. It left 100,000 people homeless, forced thousands to flee, and caused at least 300 deaths. -
Biggest Boom
While typhoon Yunya passes, a cyclone that hit the Philippines, the largest explosion starts in the early afternoon at 3:39 pm. It lasts 9 hrs, and erupts about 3 cubic miles of magma (corresponding to 90% of the total erupted during the whole 1991 eruption). The eruption column reaches an incredible height of about 22 miles high, and spreads out in the stratosphere. -
Evacuations
Evacuations continue to move out people from a 25 mile radius.
At 4:30 pm the collapse of the mountain starts, and the summit of Pinatubo begins to sink. The eruption lasts 9 hours and ends around 10:34 pm. The mountain decreased 260 m in height. -
Clark Air Force Base
The Clark Air Force base, owned by the USA at the time, was also affected by the eruption of Mount Pinatubo. The eruption covered the base with volcanic ash, destroying many buildings. -
Clark Air Force Base Is Handed Over
During the eruption, the negotiations over Clark Air Base became subject to debate, and the U.S. government withdrew, turning over the base to the Philippine government on November 26, 1991. -
Effects of Mount Pinatubo
There were about 740 fatalities, and an estimated 450 million dollars in damage to property, with 8,000 houses destroyed and 75,000 damaged. 2 million people were directly affected, mostly by widespread ash fall and damaged crops. -
More Effects of Mount Pinatubo
Global temperatures sank by 32.9 degrees fahrenheit in 1992 because of the sunlight absorbing effect of the aerosols in the stratosphere. The area around Pinatubo was completely reshaped. Surrounding land and valley including whole forests were buried under a 50-200 m deep layer of ash and pumice.In June-Dec 1991 alone, more than 200 large mudflows remobilized ash and raced down the valleys, causing more damage to houses, farmland, roads and bridges. -
