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Consider that in 1991, there was no easy access to the internet, and there were no other ways to connect to other data sets or scientists other than by phone. The first popular web browser was still a few years away, CD writers were around $10,000, and scientific data and analysis were mostly shared via fax. In 1991, the Pinatubo Volcano Observatory was a self-contained unit; data from the monitoring network were radioed to it, and analysis was performed on-site by scientists. Nowadays, data received at PVO today would be forwarded to colleagues in the United States and elsewhere for more sophisticated analysis, with the results quickly returned to PVO. Satellite data measuring ground temperatures, gas emissions, and volcano inflation or deflation would be sent to PVO and combined with other data sources to develop forecasts and inform hazard mitigation efforts. Tools and expertise would no longer be limited to what was physically available at the observatory, but instead a global support group would be available to assist with the response.

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Eruption, Lahar and Resilience: The Aftermath of Mt. Pinatubo Eruption in the Philippines

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It all comes down to the right combination of monitoring data and scientific skill, as well as scientists and public officials who are effective at communicating with each other and with members of the public who may be in danger. At Pinatubo, the PHIVOLCS and VDAP team's quick deployment of monitoring instruments and preparation of a volcanic hazards map aided in better understanding the precursors of volcanic activity and provided the foundation for accurate warnings of impending eruptions. The willingness of base commanders, government officials, and citizens to take the necessary precautions reduced the risk of a catastrophic eruption.

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For years, lahars flowed down the major river systems that surrounded the volcano and out into the densely populated lowlands. They destroyed and buried everything in their path, including people and animals, farm and forest lands, bridges and natural waterways, houses, and automobiles.

They also make terrifying rumbling noises as they rampage. By 1997, lahars had deposited more than 0.7 cubic miles (approximately 300 million dump-truck loads) of debris onto the lowlands, burying hundreds of square miles of land and wreaking more havoc than the eruption itself. With the volume of volcanic debris deposited on Mt. Pinatubo's slopes, the threat of lahars is expected to last until 2010.

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I had no idea there would be such a massive eruption in our country! I had no idea Mount Pinatubo was the volcano that had caused so much trouble for so many years! When we did the research, it was indeed surprising.

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All in all, albeit Mt. Pinatubo Eruption was part of the greatest histories, I don't wish for it to happen again. I don't want any massive explosions to happen because I can't imagine how difficult the situation was for previous generations, how obvious its impact on the weather was, and how many people died as a result of that volcano erupting. I know it would be cool to experience one because I am still amazed by natural disasters, but I'd like to think about the effects, whether they are good or bad for the majority.

Volcanoes never cease to fascinate me, but seeing them erupt with lava and magma is something I wish I could see with my own two eyes but can't.

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The Cataclysmic 1991 Eruption of Mount Pinatubo, Philippines

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Mt. Pinatubo wreaked havoc on us. Within a 30-kilometer radius of Mount Pinatubo, 58,000 people had to be evacuated. 1.2 million people were forced to flee their homes in the vicinity of Mount Pinatubo. Roof collapse killed 300 people, and lahars killed 100. Pinatubo released approximately 15 million tonnes of sulphur dioxide into the stratosphere, causing water particles to morph into Sulfuric acid raindrops. The strong winds of the stratosphere caused the acid clouds to spread around the world, dispersing the acid-filled water!

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Houses and bridges were destroyed and had to be rebuilt, and the Manila airport was forced to close due to heavy ashfall. Farmland was destroyed by falling ash and pumice and was ruined for several years, resulting in the loss of the 1991 harvest. 650,000 people were laid off. Because of the massive eruption, almost everything was in ruins.

The impact of Mt. Pinatubo can be seen 25 years after it erupted in 1991! That's how much of an impact it has on us. Volcanic ash is blown hundreds of kilometres in all directions, completely covering fields and buildings. Global cooling of 0.5°C (32.9°F) caused by ash in the atmosphere.

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“We thought it was all over the morning after the eruption. Then we realised it was only the beginning because of the annual lahars,” said local historian Robert Tantingco, director of Kapampangan Studies at Holy Angel University.

When Mount Pinatubo erupted, it ejected 7-10 cubic kilometres of ash, blanketing areas as far away as Manila in a fine, grey ash.

Much of it was dumped on the volcano's slopes. Pyroclastic flows easily overran Pinatubo's slopes, engulfing gullies up to 200 metres deep.

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Pinatubo's 1991 eruption served as shattering finale to US basing in Philippines

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The Aeta tribes who lived on the slopes had their entire world destroyed. The mountain and centuries-old forests they knew were destroyed, and they were replaced by a barren and hostile environment.

The US Clark Air Base, located several kilometres from Mount Pinatubo, was forced to close after being buried in volcanic ash. The installation was eventually closed down by the US military. While residents had been warned about the eruption, no one knew what to expect.

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We would always have bayanihan in our bloods ! ✊

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We would always have bayanihan in our bloods ! ✊

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Remember the second week of 2020? Taal Volcano erupted, the first of several disasters to strike the country this year. Many families were displaced, and many people lost their jobs.

This sparked an outpouring of support and relief from a variety of organisations, which organised donation drives, feeding initiatives for displaced families, psychosocial debriefing for traumatised victims, and volunteer efforts for stranded animals.

This outpouring of bayanihan efforts from Filipinos was seen not only in the aftermath of the Taal Volcano eruption, but also in subsequent disasters, particularly when the Philippines faced the wrath of five tropical cyclones in a three-week period from late October to November.

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It has always been our strength, our virtue! It has already become a part of our spirits! When Mount Pinatubo erupted in 1991, Filipinos aided not only Filipinos but also Americans and other nationalities who were present at the time. We helped each other overcome the obstacle, despite the fact that ash covered us all.

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A resettlement camp for evacuees of the Mt. Pinatubo disaster

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Some indigenous people who lived on the slopes of Mt. Pinatubo were still housed in resettlement camps as late as 2005. In FEMA's response continuum, this care falls under "intermediate" and "long-term recovery." The region surrounding Mt. Pinatubo has undergone significant, long-term change, with thousands of people permanently displaced, many agricultural fields rendered inoperable indefinitely, and residents who have returned home still facing threats from small, residual lahars from the 1991 eruption.

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On June 16, then-President Corazon C. Aquino declared a "state of public calamity," before establishing the Task Force Mt Pinatubo, which oversaw all rehabilitation and resettlement efforts for the affected communities.

Filipino Paul Angelo Solinap, who was translating for his parents, who assisted in the recovery efforts, said that in the immediate aftermath of the eruption, both civilian and military resources were mobilised.

His father recalled, "all the bridges around the volcano were decimated." “Many towns, particularly in the lowlands, were buried in a mud and ash mixture.”

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I'd like to tell a story about people, foreigners even who were here to experience the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo and tell you as well how massive were the explosions.

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I'd like to tell a story about people, foreigners even who were here to experience the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo and tell you as well how massive were the explosions.

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The ash finally stopped falling on June 17. But the damage had already been done. Over 700 people were killed and 200,000 people were displaced as a result of the volcano's reawakening after a six-century hibernation.

Heather Lemonds flew to the United States a week after the eruption and remembered seeing "grey snow" all over Central Luzon. “I definitely remember walking in the dark rainy ash for days whenever we left the apartment – that is something I will never forget.”

According to Davis, the landscape was drastically different, with everything buried in grey ash “about five to seven feet in depth.”

However, a few years later, when Davis revisited the area, he remarked how the local Filipino community “still smiled as if nothing had happened”.

“They’ve got a ‘life goes on’ type of attitude.”

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Vehicles left behind at Clark Air Base as people were evacuated in a frantic. 📸 Roderick Batalon

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Vehicles left behind at Clark Air Base as people were evacuated in a frantic. 📸 Roderick Batalon

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On June 14, a less powerful eruption occurred. Victor Davis, a member of a rescue team, recalled that, despite its small size in comparison to what was to come, it was one of the most terrifying sights he had ever seen.

“It appeared to be a nuclear explosion, as the mushroom cloud grew larger and larger. The sun was then blocked out. It was pitch black at 10 a.m.; you couldn't even see your hand in front of you.” However, the worst was yet to come.

The eruption reached its climax the next day, with an avalanche of magma and coarse fragments made even more powerful by another factor thrown into the mix, Typhoon Yunya, which happened to be passing through at the same time.

This lethal combination of extreme weather events culminated in a deluge of torrential rain and ash clouds that descended heavily on Central Luzon.

“There was no sunlight. It was inky black with volcanic ash mixed with rain, accumulating at a rate of an inch an hour,” Master Gunnery Sergeant Ted Szewcyzk, who was leading US marines in the Philippines at the time of the eruption, said. “For more than 22 hours, darkness and ash fell, and powerful earthquakes shook buildings.”

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Height of the eruption at about 10,000 ft. overhead. 📸 Roderick Batalon

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Height of the eruption at about 10,000 ft. overhead. 📸 Roderick Batalon

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The US military's Clark Air Force Base, only 16 kilometres away, was another base closer to the volcano. Clark was about to be hit hard, with Operation Fiery Vigil – the immediate evacuation of all 15,000 US military personnel – called.

“They were all evacuating at the same time,” English recalls, recalling how all the roads leading out of Clark Air Force Base were clogged with traffic from other vehicles frantically attempting to reach Subic.

“Until they, too, were evacuated, our families welcomed these families into our homes. “We shared everything,” he says. “That night became extremely dark, and all power was lost. We had no idea what was going on at the time because no news could get through.”

English described how it was pitch black outside for the next three days and "not even a flashlight could see through it."

As he laid on the floor alongside his wife and infant daughter, on what felt like the longest nights of his life, English said he did not know if they were going to make it out alive.

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Because a passing typhoon brought heavy rains at the same time, fast-moving flows of ash, mud, and volcanic debris known as lahars rushed down the volcano, flattening towns, smashing through jungle, and smothering rice paddies and sugarcane fields. The falling ash mixed with the water, forming a cement-like substance, and many buildings caved in due to the weight. During the eruption, more than 350 people died, the majority as a result of collapsing roofs.

Pinatubo's effects did not end on that date 25 years ago. For the next year, the ash plume's gas disrupted weather patterns and dampened the effects of global warming.

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Mount Pinatubo: Predicting a Volcanic Eruption | PBS LearningMedia

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No two volcanic eruptions happen in exactly the same way. Volcanoes are inherently unpredictable. Even so, scientists have learned to read the many signs volcanoes give off prior to an eruption in the hope of minimizing damage to lives and personal property.

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Did you know Mount Pinatubo was the most powerful eruption in Philippine history? Yes! The volcano is located 90 kilometres north of Manila in west-central Luzon, and its name translates to "made to grow" in Tagalog. After more than 600 years of dormancy, Mt Pinatubo, which stood at a sweeping scale of 4,800 feet, began to stir in April 1991.

The first of several eruptions occurred two months later, on June 12, 1991, on Philippines Independence Day. The days that followed paved the way for the most devastating eruption, which would prove to be the second largest of the twentieth century, on 15 June. This eruption was so powerful that the large volcanic ash cloud drifted around the world, causing cooler-than-normal temperatures and influencing weather for several years after.

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Did you know that? A few days before the largest eruption, an American named Bill English was working at the now-defunct US military base on Luzon, Naval Air Station Cubi Point, when he heard loud explosions and felt the ground shake. He dashed outside just in time to see massive plumes of ash shooting into the sky.

His troops were told to return home right away. For English, his house was only a few minutes away, on the naval base itself. Others, who were attempting to return to their families further afield, were not so fortunate.