15 June, 1991
TODAY IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY:
The second-largest volcanic eruption of this century, and by far the largest eruption to affect a densely populated area, occurred at Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines. The eruption produced high-speed avalanches of hot ash and gas (pyroclastic flows), giant mudflows (lahars), and a cloud of volcanic ash hundreds of miles across. The impacts of the eruption continue to this day.
Timely forecasts of this eruption by scientists from the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology and the U.S. Geological Survey enabled people living near the volcano to evacuate to safer distances, saving at least 5,000 lives.
(Ref: pubs.usgs.gov)
