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SCMP

This article was published on June 13, 1991.
Thousands evacuated after massive explosion in Philippines
Volcano’s plume soars 25km
by Michael Bociurkiw in San Narciso
Theresita Santiago and her neighbours dealt with the volcanic eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines yesterday (June 12, 1991) the only way they could: they grabbed their children and a few belongings and walked 20 kilometres to sanctuary in Olongapo City.
“I’m feeling very nervous right now,” Mrs Santiago said, as her two-year-old son wiped a layer of greyish dust away from his sore eyes.
“Maybe with God’s help we can return soon.”
The Santiagos were among tens of thousands fleeing from their homes as massive explosions, described as atomic blasts, ripped the top off Mount Pinatubo at 8.51am and again at 10.52pm last night.
The first eruption belched an awesome plume of ash and debris about 16 kilometres into the sky, the second sent the mushroom much higher, probably 25km, according to observers.
In all, there were six during 20 hours.
A lava flow, moving at about 100km/h, was said to be threatening several communities in a 25km danger zone around the volcano.
Seismologists said searing gas, ash and molten rock raced down the mountain’s western and northern slopes and into the Marella, Maraunot and O’Donnell rivers throughout the day.
The director of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, Mr Raymundo Punongbayan, predicted more activity.
A few hours before last night’s major blow, he warned that the dome of magma (molten rock) was getting bigger by the hour.
“And we think this could only be the beginning.”

The last recorded eruption of the 1,463-metre mountain, 90km northwest of Manila, was in 1380.
A Filipino serving with the United States Navy became the first reported fatality when his car collided with a bus yesterday afternoon on a road covered in ash north of the Subic Bay naval base.
The fate of a small number of aboriginal Aetas who refused to be evacuated is unknown.
A three-year-old boy had earlier died from inhaling sulphur fumes from the volcano, which began erupting on a small scale on Sunday (June 9, 1991).
Zambales province, basking in the customary searing summer heat, was turned into a winter wonderland as a blanket of grey dust settled over the landscape.
“It was the closest I’ve seen to a nuclear explosion,” said Mr Rudolph Wragg, a passenger on a Philippine Airlines flight from Manila to Taipei that flew past Pinatubo at the moment it exploded the first time.
“A large well-defined mushroom cloud rose up from the volcano with some force... it was a grey cloud lit up by the sun, an awful amount of energy,” he said in Taiwan.
By late afternoon, driving in many parts of the province became almost impossible because of the build-up of ash.
Within hours of the first eruption, Manila radio stations began playing religious music and prayers.

The more than 14,000 evacuees from Clark air base had something else on their minds: reports from nearby Angeles City indicated that looters had managed to climb the base wall and enter many homes.
One resident of Clark who was evacuated to Olongapo City on Monday said at least 17 homes had been ransacked and three dogs had been found dead from poisoning.
By noon, most of the 1,500 air force employees who remained behind at Clark to guard the base had been moved 20km further away to the Pampanga Agricultural College in Magalang.
The sprawling base, one of the largest American military installations outside the United States, is located just 16km east of the volcano and faces serious damage from the lava flows.
An air force spokesman said the move had been planned far in advance, but an inspection of the temporary shelter at the agricultural college showed otherwise: some women and children complained of little shelter from the scorching sun.
Most of the evacuees sought relief in the college’s decrepit grandstand or inside the sweltering gymnasium.
When the military left Angeles City, most of the town’s 2,000 bars were deserted or boarded up and most of their 10,000 hostesses have followed the Americans.
At Subic Bay, about 50km to the south, residents could see a huge black mushroom.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” said a reporter for the US armed services newspaper, Stars and Stripes.

Winds carrying the dust southward were beginning to pose a threat to aircraft and other equipment based at Subic.
Shortly before attending Philippine Independence Day ceremonies yesterday, President Corazon Aquino flew by helicopter to the area.


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Thousands evacuate in Philippines as Mount Pinatubo erupts in 1991 – from the SCMP archive

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Hong Kong tourist Ng Chun-chung shows a handful of volcanic ash from Mount Pinatubo upon returning from the Philippines on June 19, 1991. File photo: Sam Chan

Cathay Pacific offers special flights to repatriate Hongkongers stranded in the Philippines after Mount Pinatubo’s eruption, as reported in the June 20, 1991 issue of the South China Morning Post. Photo: SCMP

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On this day 35 years ago, Mount Pinatubo’s eruption stranded dozens of tourists in Philippines, with special flights for Hongkongers


On this day 35 years ago, Mount Pinatubo’s eruption stranded dozens of tourists in Philippines, with special flights for Hongkongers.


Natural disasters

Corazon Aquino

US Navy

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}On this day 35 years ago, Mount Pinatubo’s eruption stranded dozens of tourists in Philippines, with special flights for Hongkongers

Thousands evacuated after massive explosion in Philippines

Volcano’s plume soars 25km

On this day 35 years ago, Mount Pinatubo’s eruption stranded dozens of tourists in Philippines, with special flights for Hongkongers