1902 eruption of Mount Pelée
This article needs additional citations for verification. (January 2020) |
1902 eruption of Mount Pelée | |
---|---|
Volcano | Mount Pelée |
Start date | 23 April 1902[1] |
End date | 5 October 1905[1] |
Type | Phreatic, Peléan |
Location | Martinique, France 14°48′27″N 61°10′03″W / 14.80750°N 61.16750°W |
VEI | 4[1] |
Impact | Approximately 29,000 deaths; deadliest eruption of the 20th century.[2] |
The 1902 eruption of Mount Pelée was a
Mount Pelée remained relatively quiet until the afternoon of 5 May when a
A brief lull was shattered by a tremendous eruption at about 8:00 a.m. on 8 May. A ground-hugging cloud of incandescent lava particles suspended by searing turbulent gases called a pyroclastic surge 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, burned or was buried by falling masonry. The hot ash ignited a firestorm, fueled by smashed buildings and countless casks of rum. One survivor within the city was a clueless prisoner who was locked in a windowless underground jail cell, later being discovered by rescue workers.[4] The only other survivors were a few tens of people caught within the margins of the cloud, who were all badly burned.[3]
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.
Before the eruption
Before the 1902 eruption, as early as the mid-19th century, signs of increased
Eruptions began on 23 April 1902. In early April, excursionists noted the appearance of sulfurous vapors emitting from fumaroles near the mountaintop. This was not regarded as important, as fumaroles had appeared and disappeared in the past. On 23 April there was a light rain of cinders on the mountain's southern and western side, together with seismic activity. On 25 April the mountain emitted a large cloud containing rocks and ashes from its top, where the Étang Sec caldera was located. The ejected material did not cause a significant amount of damage. On 26 April the surroundings were dusted by volcanic ash from an explosion; the public authorities still did not see any cause for concern.
On 27 April, several excursionists
At 11:30 p.m. on 2 May, the mountain produced loud explosions, earthquakes and a massive pillar of dense black smoke. Ashes and fine-grained pumice covered the entire northern half of the island. The explosions continued at 5–6 hour intervals. This led the local newspaper Les Colonies to indefinitely postpone a proposed picnic on the mountain, originally planned for 4 May.[citation needed] Farm animals started dying from hunger and thirst, as their sources of water and food were contaminated with ash.
On Saturday 3 May, the wind blew the ash cloud northwards, alleviating the situation in Saint-Pierre. The next day the ash fall intensified, and the communication between Saint-Pierre and the Prêcheur district was severed. The ash cloud was so dense that the coastal boats feared navigating through it. Many citizens decided to flee the city, filling the steamer lines to capacity. The area was covered with a layer of fine, flour-like white ash.
On Monday 5 May, activity appeared to decrease, but at about 1:00 p.m. the sea suddenly receded about 100 m (330 ft) and then rushed back, flooding parts of the city, and a large cloud of smoke appeared westward of the mountain. One wall of the Étang Sec crater collapsed and propelled a mass of boiling water and mud (a
The next day at about 02:00, loud sounds were heard from within the depths of the mountain. On Wednesday 7 May at around 04:00, activity increased; the clouds of ash caused numerous bolts of
Climactic phase
On Thursday morning 8 May, the night
A rush of wind followed, this time towards the mountain. Then came a half-hour downpour of muddy rain mixed with ashes. For the next several hours, all communication with the city was severed. Nobody knew what was happening, nor who had authority over the island, as the governor was unreachable and his status unknown.
There are unnamed eyewitnesses to the eruption, probably survivors on the boats at the time of the eruption. One eyewitness said "the mountain was blown to pieces—there was no warning," while another said "it was like a giant oil refinery." One said "the town vanished before our eyes." The area devastated by the pyroclastic cloud covered about 21 km2 (8 sq mi), with the city of Saint-Pierre taking the brunt of the damage.
At the time of the eruption, Saint-Pierre had a population of about 28,000, which had swollen with refugees from the minor explosions and mud flows first emitted by the volcano. Legend has previously reported that out of the 30,000 in the city, there were only two survivors:
Compère-Léandre stated the following when asked about his survival:
I felt a terrible wind blowing, the earth began to tremble, and the sky suddenly became dark. I turned to go into the house, with great difficulty climbed the three or four steps that separated me from my room, and felt my arms and legs burning, also my body. I dropped upon a table. At this moment four others sought refuge in my room, crying and writhing with pain, although their garments showed no sign of having been touched by flame. At the end of 10 minutes one of these, the young Delavaud girl, aged about 10 years, fell dead; the others left. I got up and went to another room, where I found the father Delavaud, still clothed and lying on the bed, dead. He was purple and inflated, but the clothing was intact. Crazed and almost overcome, I threw myself on a bed, inert and awaiting death. My senses returned to me in perhaps an hour, when I beheld the roof burning. With sufficient strength left, my legs bleeding and covered with burns, I ran to Fonds-Saint-Denis, six kilometers from Saint-Pierre.[7]
One woman, a housemaid, also survived the pyroclastic flow but died soon after.[citation needed] She said that the only thing she remembered from the event was sudden heat. She died very shortly after being discovered. A third reported survivor was Havivra Da Ifrile, a 10-year-old girl who had rowed to shelter in a cave.[12] Included among the victims were the passengers and crews of several ships docked at Saint-Pierre.
Relief
At about 12:00, the acting governor of Martinique sent the cruiser Suchet to investigate what had happened and the warship arrived off the burning town at about 12:30. The fierce heat beat back landing parties until nearly 15:00, when the captain came ashore on the Place Bertin, the tree-shaded square with cafés near the center of town. Not a tree was standing; the denuded trunks, scorched and bare, lay prone, torn out by the roots. The ground was littered with dead. Fire and a suffocating stench prevented any deeper exploration of the burning ruins.
-
May 14, 1902 remains of victims
-
Remains of victims of the 1902 disaster
-
Mt. Pelee- (View of street next to Caminade's store, St. Pierre, Martinique) (4544943822)
-
Views of St. Pierre, ruins (Ludger Sylbaris at left?)
-
Views of St. Pierre, ruins
-
Desolate City of the Dead, St. Pierre, Martinique, F. W. I
-
Main Street, Le Morne-Rouge, after the August 30 eruption
Meanwhile, a number of survivors had been plucked from the sea by small boats; they were sailors who had been blown into the water by the impact of the blast, and who had clung to wreckage for hours. All were badly burned. In the village of Le Carbet, shielded from the fiery cloud by a high promontory at the southern end of the city, were more victims, also badly burned; few of these lived longer than a few hours.[citation needed]
The area of devastation covered about 20 km2 (10 sq mi). Inside this area, the annihilation of life and property was total; outside was a second, clearly defined zone where there were casualties, but the material damage was less, while beyond this lay a strip in which vegetation was scorched but life was spared. Many victims were in casual attitudes, their features calm and reposeful, indicating that the eruption blast had reached them without warning; others were contorted in anguish.[citation needed] The clothing had been torn from nearly all the victims struck down outdoors. Some houses were almost pulverized; it was impossible even for those familiar with the city to identify the foundations of the city landmarks. The city burned for days. Sanitation parties gradually penetrated the ruins, to dispose of the dead by burning; burial was not possible given the number of dead. Thousands of victims lay under a shroud of ashes, heaped in windrows metres deep, caked by the rains; many of these bodies were not retrieved for weeks, and few were identifiable.
The United States quickly offered help to Martinique's authorities. On 12 May, US president
Canada, the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Denmark, Japan, Russia and the Vatican also offered help.
Subsequent activity
On May 20, a second eruption similar to the first one in both type and force obliterated what was left of Saint-Pierre, killing 2,000 rescuers, engineers, and mariners bringing supplies to the island.[14] During a powerful eruption on 30 August , a pyroclastic flow extended further east than the flows of 8 and 20 May. Although not quite as powerful as the previous two eruptions, the 30 August pyroclastic flow struck Morne Rouge, killing at least 800,[15] Ajoupa-Bouillon [16] (250 fatalities),[15] and parts of Basse-Pointe (25 fatalities) and Morne-Capot, killing 10.[15] A tsunami caused some damage in Le Carbet.[16] To date, this was the last fatal eruption of Mount Pelée.[15]
Beginning in October 1902, a large lava spine grew from the crater floor in the Étang Sec crater, reaching a maximum width of about 100 to 150 m (300 to 500 ft) and a height of about 300 m (1,000 ft). Called the "Needle of Pelée" or "Pelée's Tower", it grew in height by up to 15 m (50 ft) a day, with more or less the same volume as the Great Pyramid of Egypt. It became unstable and collapsed into a pile of rubble in March 1903,[17] after 5 months of growth.
The eruption eventually ended on 5 October 1905.[1]
Effects
The study of the causes of the disaster marked the beginning of modern
The destruction caused by the 1902 eruption was quickly publicized by recent modern means of communication.[citation needed] It brought to the attention of the public and governments the hazards and dangers of an active volcano.
See also
- The Eruption of Mount Pelee – 1902 French film by Georges Méliès
- List of volcanic eruptions 1500–1999
- List of volcanic eruptions by death toll
- 1951 eruption of Mount Lamington
References
- ^ a b c d "Pelée". Global Volcanism Program. Smithsonian Institution. Archived from the original on 2020-08-04. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
- ISBN 978-1-4113-3872-2.
- ^ a b c "Volcano Watch - Chronology of a volcanic disaster: The worst volcanic disaster of the 20th century occurred in 1902 on Martinique, an island in the French West Indies". 2004-03-11. Archived from the original on 2020-01-27. Retrieved 2020-01-27. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ a b McCullough, David (1977). "The Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal, 1870-1914".
- ^ Scarth, Alwyn (2002). La Catastrophe. Oxford. p. 30.
- ^ "'Wave of Fire': The Maritime Catastrophe of Mont Pelée". Bow Creek to Anatahan. 19 April 2020. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
- ^ a b c "The eruption of Mount Pelee". SDSU. Archived from the original on 2001-03-03. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
- ^ "Global Volcanism Program". Archived from the original on 2013-02-25. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
- ^ SS Grappler (+1902) wrecksite. Retrieved 7 November 2022
- ^ Scarth, Alwyn, La Catastrophe, Oxford Press; pp 144–147
- ^ Scarth, Alwyn, La Catastrophe, Oxford Press; pp 129–136
- ^ "Every volcano has its own heartbeat". British Science Association. 2017-09-09. Retrieved 2023-07-06.
- ^ "Government Relief Work: How the War and Navy Departments Have Divided it—Merchant Vessels May Be Chartered". The New York Times. May 14, 1902.
- ^ "May 8, 1902: La Pel E". Archived from the original on December 13, 2014. Retrieved January 25, 2020.
- ^ a b c d Scarth, Alwyn (2002). La Catastrophe. Oxford. pp. 212–218.
- ^ a b Notes, Nature No.1714 Vol.66. 1902.
- ^ Scarth, Alwyn (2002). La Catastrophe. Oxford. pp. 219–221.
- ^ Scarth, Alwyn (2002). La Catastrophe. Oxford. p. 207.
- ^ Lacroix, Antoine (1904). La Montagne Pelée et ses Eruptions [Mount Pelée and its eruptions] (in French). Vol. 1. Paris, France: Masson. p. 38. Archived from the original on 2022-05-31. Retrieved 2020-10-01. From vol. 1, p. 38: After describing on p. 37 the eruption of a "dense, black cloud" (nuée noire), Lacroix coins the term nuée ardente : "Peu après l'éruption de ce que j'appellerai désormais la nuée ardente, un immense nuage de cendres couvrait l'ile tout entière, la saupoudrant d'une mince couche de débris volcaniques." (Shortly after the eruption of what I will call henceforth the dense, glowing cloud [nuée ardente], an immense cloud of cinders covered the entire island, sprinkling it with a thin layer of volcanic debris.)