page_title: 1902 eruption of Mount Pelée
hierarchical_section_title: 1902 eruption of Mount Pelée
caption_attribution_description: English: Identifier: nationalgeograp131902nati (find matches) Title: The National geographic magazine Year: 1888 (1880s) Authors: National Geographic Society (U.S.) Subjects: Geography Publisher: Washington&#160;: National Geographic Society Contributing Library: Smithsonian Libraries Digitizing Sponsor: Biodiversity Heritage Library View Book Page: Book Viewer About This Book: Catalog Entry View All Images: All Images From Book Click here to view book online to see this illustration in context in a browseable online version of this book. Text Appearing Before Image: it cra-ter, on the other hand, are more ener-getic than any that can without doubtbe referred to the pseudo-craters. Theminor eruptions from the summit cra-ter, however, may be due to preciselythe same immediate cause as the erup-tions of the pseudo-crater, namely, theaccess of surface water to highh heatedrocks, so that an apparent^ completesequence may be observed between theescape of steam from hot debris and thedischarges from true volcanic conduits.It is thus seen that the discovery of thecrucial test asked for is difficult, andthe final decision, if one is reached,must rest on a judicial balancing of allthe evidence and the weight to be givento the judgment of individual observers.An instructive fact furnished by thepseudo-crater (even when the largerand, as some persons may think, ques-tionable examples are not considered)which has a bearing on the theories ofthe ultimate causes of volcanic erup-tions, is the close similarity, and in factidentity, that exists between the explo- Text Appearing After Image: Mont Pelee from Vive, May 27 The great cloud of steam and smoke rose cauliflower shaped from the summit crater to a heightof from two to three miles. The descending shower of rain and ashes shows on the right Drawn by George Varian. Republished from McClures Magazine Note About Images Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original work.
context_page_description: The 1902 eruption of Mount Pelée was a moderately large volcanic eruption on the island of Martinique in the Lesser Antilles Volcanic Arc of the eastern Caribbean. Eruptive activity began on 23 April as a series of phreatic explosions from the summit of Mount Pelée. Within days, the vigor of the explosions exceeded anything witnessed since the island was settled by Europeans. The intensity then subsided for a few days until early May when the explosions had increased again. Lightning laced the eruption clouds and trade winds dumped ash on villages to the west. Heavy ash fall at times caused total darkness. Some of the afflicted residents panicked and headed for the perceived safety of larger settlements, especially Saint-Pierre, about 10 km south of Pelée's summit. Saint-Pierre received its first ash fall on 3 May.
  Mount Pelée remained relatively quiet until the afternoon of 5 May when a mudflow swept down a river on the southwest flank of the volcano, destroying a sugar mill. The massive flow buried about 150 people and generated a series of three tsunamis as it hit the sea. The tsunamis swept along the coast, damaging buildings and boats.
context_section_description: The 1902 eruption of Mount Pelée was a moderately large volcanic eruption on the island of Martinique in the Lesser Antilles Volcanic Arc of the eastern Caribbean. Eruptive activity began on 23 April as a series of phreatic explosions from the summit of Mount Pelée. Within days, the vigor of the explosions exceeded anything witnessed since the island was settled by Europeans. The intensity then subsided for a few days until early May when the explosions had increased again. Lightning laced the eruption clouds and trade winds dumped ash on villages to the west. Heavy ash fall at times caused total darkness. Some of the afflicted residents panicked and headed for the perceived safety of larger settlements, especially Saint-Pierre, about 10 km (6.2 mi) south of Pelée's summit. Saint-Pierre received its first ash fall on 3 May.
  Mount Pelée remained relatively quiet until the afternoon of 5 May when a mudflow swept down a river on the southwest flank of the volcano, destroying a sugar mill. The massive flow buried about 150 people and generated a series of three tsunamis as it hit the sea. The tsunamis swept along the coast, damaging buildings and boats. The explosions resumed the night of 5 May. The following morning, parts of the eruption plume became incandescent, signifying that the character of the eruption had changed. The phreatic explosions had finally given way to magmatic explosions as magma reached the surface. The explosions continued through the next day and night.
  A brief lull was shattered by a tremendous explosion at about 8:00 a.m. on 8 May. A ground-hugging cloud of incandescent lava particles suspended by searing turbulent gases moved at hurricane speed down the southwest flank of the volcano, reaching Saint-Pierre at 8:02 a.m. Escape from the city was virtually impossible. Almost everyone within the city proper—about 28,000 people—died horrifically, burned or buried by falling masonry. The hot ash ignited a firestorm, fueled by smashed buildings and countless casks of rum. Only two survived within the city, along with a few tens of people caught within the margins of the cloud. All survivors were badly burned.
  Explosive activity on 20 May resulted in another 2,000 deaths as rescuers, engineers and mariners brought supplies to the island. A powerful eruption on 30 August generated a pyroclastic flow that resulted in over 800 people killed. The eruption continued until October 1905.
caption: Eruption column on May 27, 1902
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