Mount Pinatubo is a volcano that erupted. Volcano eruptions are categorized as natural disasters because they have extreme implications for the surrounding areas. People tend to leave near volcanos due to the rich soils and moderate temperatures. The more heavily populated the area surrounding a volcano the increases risk of disaster.
Mount Pinatubo is on a continental crust plate and the magma released when it erupted was highly viscous and therefore highly explosive. Rosenberg (2012) explains, “the volcanic eruption was the second largest of the twentieth century and climaxed with nine hours of eruption on June 15, 1991 and 15 million tons of sulfur dioxide were discharge into the atmosphere” (Mount Pinatubo Eruption, para 1). The eruption was an explosion of gases and magma, Jones and Newhall (1996) explain, “in June 1991 the eruption created a 2.5 km wide collapse caldera and filled valleys around Pinatubo with about 5.5 +/- 0.5 cubic km of pyroclastic flow deposits. The new summit elevation of the volcano is approximately 1,485 meters above sea level, reduced from 1, 745 meters.” There was fair warning prior to the eruption and people were evacuated but not all lives were spared and a measles outbreak was soon realized in the area.