MOUNT PINATUBO

Before the eruption, Mount Pinatubo was covered with tropical vegetation and was home to more than 30,000 people who lived in villages on its slopes. Thousands of other people lived in the valleys surrounding the volcano, including US military personnel stationed at Clark Air Base and Subic Bay Naval Station. Scientists from the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) and the United States Geological Survey (USGS) were able to accurately predict the timing of the eruption and its effects. As a result, the Philippine government and the American military were able to carry out a timely evacuation of the population, saving thousands of lives and millions of dollars in property damage. However, the eruption killed up to 800 people and displaced thousands more by burying the surrounding land with thick layers of ash. Dams were built to control destructive lahars that followed the eruption, and recovery costs totaled billions of Philippine pesos.