Mt. Pinatubo's World Record-Breaking Volcanic Eruption in 1991 - Essay Sample

Introduction

The volcanic eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in the Philippines is the world's largest volcanic unrest to have ever occurred in the last century. The eruption took place on 15th June 1991. It is estimated that Mt. Pinatubo erupted more than 3.7 km3 of magma and covered more than 400 km.2.The ash blanketed the larger part of Southeast Asia (Gaillard, 2018). The most remarkable aspect of this incidence is that, although it threatened thousands of people, only a few perished. Despite the devastation brought about by this eruption, collaborative work from the local government, the United States Geographical Survey scientists (USGS), the US military, the Volcano Crisis Disaster Team, and scientists from the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) saved thousands of people.

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The success of the evacuation process was influenced by many factors. First, each stakeholder had a different role to play to ensure that the whole process was successful. For instance, the U.S security personnel ordered residents living around Mt. Pinatubo to move out of the way of the lahars. On 14th June 1991, the public was asked to extend away by at least 30 kilometers. On the day of the eruption, they were further requested to extend again by at least 40 kilometers radius. On their part, the USGS, jointly with the PHIVOLCS monitored and conducted extensive studies that helped them to correctly forecast the imminent eruption. Moreover, they issued warnings to the surrounding communities that were at risk to evacuate. The government also played a key role to ensure the successful evacuation of the people living around Mt. Pinatubo. For instance, government agencies such as the Department of Social Welfare and Development provided basic services such as medical health care services, food, and a place to temporarily reside before being given permanent residence.In contrast, if there was no collaboration, then it means that it would have not even have been possible to identify the likelihood of the volcanic eruption taking place. Moreover, it means that people would not have been evacuated by the moment when eruption would have happened. This would have resulted in one of the worst tragedies in human history. Many people would have died and property worth billion dollars would also have got destroyed.

What is more, if the military officers would have failed to adhere to the scientists' advice, then it would mean that residents of the nearby community would have not been evacuated and hence they would have perished in the tragedy. Correspondingly, if the scientists would have delayed in conducting researches, then the same case would have happened why thousands of people would have died and property worth billions of dollars would have got destroyed.

Overall, the success of the evacuation of people living around Mt. Pinatubo was dependent on the collaboration of the various stakeholders including the collaborative work from the local government, the United States Geographical Survey scientists, and the military officers.

References

Gaillard, J. C. (2018). Alternative paradigms of volcanic risk perception: The case of Mt. Pinatubo in the Philippines. Journal of volcanology and geothermal research, 172(3-4), 315-328.