Mt. Etna (Italy, 2002-2003)
Mount Etna (left picture above) is a Stratovolcano located on the East coast of Sicily, Italy and it is the tallest active volcano on the European continent, standing at 3,329 meters. It is also one of the most active volcanoes in the world and since 1500 BC the volcano has experienced over 200 large scale eruptions. Italy is a More Economically Developed Country-or an MEDC- this is due high life expectancy and a low death rate. One significant eruption of Mt Etna was the 2002 Flank Eruption, where a huge column of ash was thrown up that could be seen from space as well as Libya, 600 km South-East across the Mediterranean Sea. To the left is a photo taken by astronauts at the International Space Station on October 30, 2002. Its lava flow finished and the ash settled in January 2003, so the eruption lasted for about three months.
To the right is a simplified cross section plate tectonics diagram showing how Mt Etna was formed and why it keeps erupting. The diagram shows the Eurasian Plate and the African Plate converging and then forming a subduction zone as the African Plate slides underneath the Eurasian Plate. As the Plate moves closer to the Earth's core, it melts and forms magma, which then rises to the surface in the form of an eruption. However, this particular eruption was believed to have been caused by a series of small earthquakes, due to the build-up of pressure on the plates from the friction between them upon contact.
Despite having no recorded deaths in the eruption, there were many other major social impacts. One of them was that many schools, roads and businesses were forcibly closed due to the ash and smoke released into the air. Another social impact was that many houses that ran up the side of the volcano were destroyed by a lava flow. The main environmental impact was obviously the large amount of air pollution and poisonous gases that were released. Another one was the forest fires caused by the lava flow down the side of the volcano; this is the cause of the smaller, white smoke down the bottom of the picture to the left. As for economic impacts, a crucial one that affected other countries too was that many flights had to be either cancelled or diverted due to the magnitude of the ash cloud. Another economic impact is the destruction of the tourism structures set up around the volcano. One unique economic impact that actually turned out positive is that filming of the eruption was sold and used in the movie 'Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith'.
Mt. Pinatubo (Phillipines, 1991)
The location of Mt Pinatubo. It is close to the large city Angeles.
In 1991, Mount Pinatubo (right picture at top of page) located in the Phillipines on the island of Luzon, erupted violently. It was considered to be the most violent eruption of the 20th century, after an eruption in Alaska in 1912. It released 5 billion cubic meters of volcanic ash and gases, triggering producing high speed gas avalanches and giant mud flows. The Phillipines is considered a Less Economically Developed Country (LEDC), as the nation has a reasonably high level of poverty and a low life expectancy. It was not considered a dangerous volcano before 1991 as it was covered with dense forest so was barely noticed. Its eruption has left it extremely famous, however, as there were sadly 847 recorded deaths caused by the eruption.
The main cause of the 1991 Pinatubo eruption is believed to have been the major 7.7 magnitude earthquake that struck Luzon in July 16, 1990. There is heavy plate tectonic activity around the Philippines and their neighbours Japan in particular, as the countries are uniquely near three plate boundaries: the Pacific plate, the Eurasian Plate and the Philippines Plate. In both April and May of the following year 1991 earthquakes of increasing intensity were both felt by the villagers and detected by seismographs, and come the volcanic eruption the seismographs were picking up over 100 earthquakes a day. This constant shaking of the ground lead to cracks in the Earth's crust and magma, gas and ash were able to make its way up through the volcano. The image below explains the concept of the destructive convergent plate boundary well, and for further explanation see plate tectonics at 'home'.
Due to pre-warnings of a large volcanic eruption like the emission of gases and seismologic activity, the majority of people were evacuated within a 40km radius of the volcanoes subject; this was the sole cause for the thousands of saved lives. There were still 847 deaths, however, a major social impact for Luzon. Most of these deaths were caused from collapsed roofs and a few were from the violent pyroclastic flows released from the volcano. Overall, a massive 2.1 million people and 364 communities were affected by the eruption; more then 8,000 homes were destroyed and a further 73,000 were damaged. Thousands of children's education was also severely effected by the destruction and temporary closing of schools.
There were many environmental impacts of this massive ash cloud. As it was projected 34 km upwards, well into the stratosphere, large amounts of dust and aerosols were ejected into the atmosphere. This had major global effects, as it meant that the Earth's sunlight intake decreased by a massive 10 percent, lowering average temperatures in the world by at least 1 degree Celsius. Local environmental impacts were also great, as 37,000 acres of land was destroyed, killing reforestation projects and heavily disrupting agriculture. The ash cloud also brought temporary darkness to the whole of central Luzon, it was so far stretched that ash was recorded as far as Vietnam, Cambodia and Malaysia.
Billions and billions of dollars were forcibly poured into moving on after the 1991 eruption and economic impacts were huge. 10.6 billion pesos were spent on fixing infrastructure, land, transport devices etc in 1991 alone. This is well over $2 billion US spent in half a year!!! This had huge impacts on the nation as a whole and the Philippines' overall Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The nation's GRDP had been growing at 5% annually until the volcanic eruption, but fell by more then 3% from 1990 to 1991. 42 percent of the land around the volcano was also effected by lahars and mud flows, costing the economy approximately 450 million dollars just for that particular section of agriculture.
There were many environmental impacts of this massive ash cloud. As it was projected 34 km upwards, well into the stratosphere, large amounts of dust and aerosols were ejected into the atmosphere. This had major global effects, as it meant that the Earth's sunlight intake decreased by a massive 10 percent, lowering average temperatures in the world by at least 1 degree Celsius. Local environmental impacts were also great, as 37,000 acres of land was destroyed, killing reforestation projects and heavily disrupting agriculture. The ash cloud also brought temporary darkness to the whole of central Luzon, it was so far stretched that ash was recorded as far as Vietnam, Cambodia and Malaysia.
Billions and billions of dollars were forcibly poured into moving on after the 1991 eruption and economic impacts were huge. 10.6 billion pesos were spent on fixing infrastructure, land, transport devices etc in 1991 alone. This is well over $2 billion US spent in half a year!!! This had huge impacts on the nation as a whole and the Philippines' overall Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The nation's GRDP had been growing at 5% annually until the volcanic eruption, but fell by more then 3% from 1990 to 1991. 42 percent of the land around the volcano was also effected by lahars and mud flows, costing the economy approximately 450 million dollars just for that particular section of agriculture.
Difference of impacts between MEDC (Italy) and LEDC (Philippines)
One major difference between the two countries is that due to organised and efficient evacuation systems, Sicily was able to evacuate all whose lives were in danger due to the eruption. Contrastingly, although everybody living close to Pinatubo were attempted to be evacuated, lack of public education and awareness about how and when to evacuate was a large cause for the 847 deaths. Also, in Italy technology would have allowed easy communication to anyone about the eruption, whether it was through television, mobile phone or other hi-tech devices. In the LEDC Pinatubo, many inhabitants would not have a television in their home or a mobile phone ready for immediate use, thus the message would have been spread much slower or not spread at all.
As the two countries are at very different stages of economic development or different stages of the Demographic Transition Model (as shown on the left) the economic impacts were very different for the nations. As Italy was already quite a wealthy country, although huge amounts of money had to be paid for the repairing of infrastructure the economy did not severely fall. There is no denying that the country suffered a major economic loss, however a lot of money could be afforded to be spent without too many consequences. In major contrast, the Philippines found the 1991 eruption as an immense setback. As I have previously mentioned, their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) had been growing fast before decreasing by over three percent in the single year of the eruption.