Pinatubo Volcano is an active volcano located on the island of Luzon, 87 kilometres from Manila. The volcano last erupted in 1991, although before that it was considered extinct because it had been dormant for over 600 years. Before the eruption, its height was 1745 meters, and today it is 1486 meters.
In the 16th century, when the Spanish conquistadors arrived on Luzon, the densely forested Pinatubo was a refuge for hiding Aeta natives.
In April 1991, scientists noticed the first signs of an impending eruption of Pinatubo - a column of vapour appeared above the volcano's summit after tremors. Immediately evacuated the inhabitants of all cities and towns located within a radius of 20 kilometres. The first explosion occurred on 12 June, raising a black ash cloud to a height of 19 km. The next explosion, more powerful, occurred 14 hours later. The largest eruption occurred on June 15 - the wave height was 34 km, and the ejected ash covered an area of the sky with an area of 125 thousand sq km! The area that area was plunged into darkness for several hours. Thereafter, weaker eruptions weaker eruptions occurred until 17 June. As a result, about 900 people were killed and Clark Air Force Base and a US naval base were destroyed. The eruption was recognised as one of the strongest of the 20th century - it received a 6 6 on the Richter scale.
Interesting fact: former Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay, a native of the Zambales province, named his personal aeroplane "Pinatubo". In 1957, the plane crashed, killing 25 people, including President Magsaysay himself.
Over the past 20 years, tremors have regularly occurred in the Pinatubo area, making construction impossible here. Scientists believe that the volcano has a lot more to offer, and it could erupt much more violently than the 1991 eruption. However, today Volcano Pinatubo is one of the most popular mountain tourism sites in the Philippines. Numerous tours are organised here, including which include rafting on the crater lake and white water rafting.
In the vicinity of the volcano is the village of Aeta, which is of ethnographic interest. And in the town of Capas, on the way to Pinatubo, you can visit the National Monument, dedicated to the infamous Death March. Here was the camp where the Japanese during World War II held thousands of American and Filipino prisoners of war captured after the Battle of Bataan. 2,200 American and 27,000 Filipino soldiers died in this camp. The memorial consists of a 54-hectare park, part of which is planted with trees according to the by the number of dead. In 2003, an obelisk 70 meters high was erected in the park, surrounded by a black marble wall with the names of buried military personnel.
