20th Century Volcanic Eruptions
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1902Mont Pelée, Martinique |
An extremely destructive eruption accompanied the growth of a dome at Mont Pelée in 1902. Pyroclastic flows completely destroyed the town of St. Pierre, Martinique (65,000 people), killing nearly 30,000 inhabitants. -- Excerpt from: Wright and Pierson, 1992, USGS Circular 1073, p.39. and Tilling, 1985, Volcanoes: USGS General Interest Publication, p.16-17. | ||
1912Novarupta, Alaska |
Largest U.S. volcanic eruption of the 20th century, produced 21 cubic kilometers of volcanic material, which is equivalent to 230 years of eruption at Kilauea (Hawaii). (Or, about 30 times the volume erupted by Mount St. Helens in 1980.) Pyroclastic flow filled Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes, and as much as 0.3 meter of ash fell 161 kilometers away. -- Excerpt from: Wright and Pierson, 1992, USGS Circular 1073, p.5, and Brantley, 1994, Volcanoes of the United States, USGS General Interest Publication, p.30. ) | ||
1914-1917Lassen Peak, California |
Pyroclastic flows, debris flows, and lava flows covered over 16 square kilometers. This eruption was moderate compared to major eruptions at other volcanoes in the world during recorded history. No one was killed in the Mount Lassen eruption and damage was minor. -- Excerpt from: Wright and Pierson, 1992, USGS Circular 1073, p.5., and Tilling, 1980, Earthquake Information Bulletin, v.12, n.4, p.163. | ||
1980-1986Mount St. Helens, Washington |
Initial debris avalanche and lateral blast on May 18, 1980, removed the upper 396 meters of the volcano, killed 57 people, and triggered debris flows that temporarily stopped shipping on the Columbia River and disrupted highways and rail lines. The blast devastated 596 square kilometers, and destroyed timber valued at several millions of dollars. Measurable amounts of ash fell as far east as North Dakota. -- Excerpt from: Wright and Pierson, 1992, USGS Circular 1073, p.5. | ||
Since 1983Kilauea, Hawaii |
Nearly 78 square kilometers covered by lava and over 180 dwellings destroyed including, in 1990, the entire historic community of Kalapana. 121 square hectometers of new land added to the island of Hawaii. -- Excerpt from: Wright and Pierson, 1992, USGS Circular 1073, p.5. | ||
1984Mauna Loa, Hawaii |
Hilo, the largest city on the Island of Hawaii, was threatened by lava flows. The eruption began before dawn on March 25, 1984. Brilliant lava fountains lit the night-time sky as fissures opened across the floor of the caldera. Within hours, the summit activity stopped and lava began erupting from a series of vents along the northeast rift zone. When the eruption stopped 3 weeks later, lava flows were only 6.5 kilometers from buildings in the city of Hilo. -- Excerpt from: Wright and Pierson, 1992, USGS Circular 1073, p.5, and Brantley, 1994, Volcanoes of the United States, USGS General Interest Publication, p.12. | ||
1984Nevado del Ruiz, Colombia |
The town of Armero, Colombia -- buried by mudflows triggered by the 1985 eruption at Nevado del Ruiz -- was located on a debris fan that was overrun by destructive mudflows in the year 1595, shortly after the arrival of the Spanish colonists, and again in 1845, killing hundreds of people in each instance. During the ensuing 140-year period of inactivity, people forgot and the town was rebuilt at the same site and grew in population. Although a preliminary hazard-zone map for Ruiz, completed one month before the November 1985 eruption, clearly delineated Armero as being especially vulnerable to mudflows, emergency-response measures taken during the eruption were entirely inadequate to save the more than 23,000 lives lost when the mudflows struck. -- Excerpt from: Wright and Pierson, 1992, USGS Circular 1073, p.21. | ||
1986Augustine Volcano, Alaska |
Ash plume disrupted air traffic and deposited ash in Anchorage. A dome built in the crater led to fear of dome collapse triggering a tsunami along the east shore of Cook Inlet, as happened in 1883, when a part of the volcano's summit collapsed into the sea. Within one hour, a tsunami as high as 9 meters crashed ashore on the coast of the Kenai Peninsula 80 kilometers away. No one was killed and property damage was only minor because the tsunami hit at low tide. -- Excerpt from: Wright and Pierson, 1992, USGS Circular 1073, p.5, and Brantley, 1994, Volcanoes of the United States, USGS General Interest Publication, p.29. | ||
1989-1990Redoubt Volcano, Alaska |
Debris flows caused temporary closing of the Drift River Oil Terminal. A 747 jet aircraft temporarily lost power in all 4 engines when it entered the volcanic ash plume, and it would have crashed had its engines not been started just 1,219 meters above the mountain peaks toward which it was heading. -- Excerpt from: Wright and Pierson, 1992, USGS Circular 1073, p.5. | ||
1991Pinatubo Volcano, Philippines |
Loss of life in the Pinatubo eruption was remarkably low, given the size of the eruption -- 350 people died, mostly in buildings that collapsed. The alert system put in place by PHIVOLCS combined with effective communication among the USGS, PHIVOLCS, local civil defense agencies, and the U.S. Military Command prevented a much greater human disaster. -- Excerpt from: Wright and Pierson, 1992, USGS Circular 1073, p.32. | ||
Since 1995Soufriere Hills Volcano, Montserrat, West Indies |
The first historical eruption on Montserrat did not take place until 1995. Long-term small-to-moderate ash eruptions were accompanied by lava dome growth and pyroclastic flows that initially forced evacuation of the southern half of the island and then destroyed the capital city of Plymouth. -- Excerpt from: Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanism Program Website, 1998 | ||
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