About the volcano
Mount Pelée, towering over northern Martinique, had been showing signs of unrest since April 1902: ash, tremors, mudflows. Even so, the people of Saint-Pierre, the island's largest town, were not evacuated. On the morning of 8 May a cloud of hot gas and ash – a pyroclastic flow – swept down from the volcano and burned the town and the ships in its harbour within minutes. About 28,000 people died; only a handful survived, among them a prisoner shielded by the thick walls of his cell. The term “Peléan eruption” comes from this event, which also started the scientific study of pyroclastic flows.
Eruption history
VEI – Volcanic Explosivity Index: 0 = lava outpouring, 4 = like Eyjafjallajökull 2010, 6 = like Pinatubo 1991, 7 = like Tambora 1815. The scale is logarithmic – each step is about 10 times more material.
| Start | End | VEI | Vent and dating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 16 September 1929 | 1 December 1932 | 3 | Observations: Reported |
| 23 April 1902 | 5 October 1905 | 4 | Rivière Blanche and summit crater · Observations: Reported |
| 5 August 1851 | 1 February 1852 | 2 | Upper Rivière Claire valley (900 m elevation) · Observations: Reported |
| 22 January 1792 | April 1792 | 1 | Upper Rivière Claire valley · Observations: Reported |
| c. 1635 | — | ? | Observations: Reported |
| 1460 ± 20 years | — | ? | Isotopic: 14C (uncalibrated) |
| c. 1370 | — | ? | Isotopic: 14C (uncalibrated) |
| 1340 ± 50 years | — | 4 | Isotopic: 14C (calibrated) |
| 1260 ± 20 years | — | ? | Isotopic: 14C (uncalibrated) |
| c. 1190 | — | ? | Isotopic: 14C (uncalibrated) |
| c. 910 | — | ? | Isotopic: 14C (uncalibrated) |
| 890 ± 100 years | — | 4 | Isotopic: 14C (calibrated) |
| c. 720 | — | ? | Isotopic: 14C (uncalibrated) |
| c. 650 | — | ? | Isotopic: 14C (uncalibrated) |
| c. 450 | — | 4 | Isotopic: 14C (uncalibrated) |
| 350 ± 75 years | — | 4 | Isotopic: 14C (calibrated) |
| c. 300 | — | 4 | Isotopic: 14C (uncalibrated) |
| 220 ± 75 years | — | ? | Isotopic: 14C (uncalibrated) |
| c. 130 | — | 4 | Isotopic: 14C (uncalibrated) |
| c. 50 | — | 4 | Isotopic: 14C (uncalibrated) |
| 10 ± 50 years | — | 4 | Isotopic: 14C (calibrated) |
| c. 200 BCE | — | 4 | Isotopic: 14C (uncalibrated) |
| 300 BCE ± 100 years | — | ? | Isotopic: 14C (calibrated) |
| c. 440 BCE | — | 4 | Isotopic: 14C (uncalibrated) |
| 590 BCE ± 200 years | — | 4 | Isotopic: 14C (calibrated) |
| c. 600 BCE | — | ? | Isotopic: 14C (uncalibrated) |
| c. 620 BCE | — | ? | Isotopic: 14C (uncalibrated) |
| c. 730 BCE | — | ? | Isotopic: 14C (uncalibrated) |
| 890 BCE ± 50 years | — | ? | Isotopic: 14C (calibrated) |
| 1,390 BCE ± 150 years | — | ? | Isotopic: 14C (calibrated) |
| 2,100 BCE ± 200 years | — | ? | Isotopic: 14C (calibrated) |
| c. 2,280 BCE | — | ? | Isotopic: 14C (uncalibrated) |
| c. 2,360 BCE | — | ? | Isotopic: 14C (uncalibrated) |
| c. 2,430 BCE | — | 4 | Isotopic: 14C (uncalibrated) |
| 2,460 BCE ± 100 years | — | ? | Isotopic: 14C (calibrated) |
| 2,660 BCE ± 200 years | — | 4 | Isotopic: 14C (calibrated) |
| c. 3,020 BCE | — | ? | Isotopic: 14C (uncalibrated) |
| 3,120 BCE ± 200 years | — | ? | Isotopic: 14C (calibrated) |
| c. 3,250 BCE | — | ? | Isotopic: 14C (uncalibrated) |
| c. 3,290 BCE | — | ? | Isotopic: 14C (uncalibrated) |
| 3,430 BCE ± 75 years | — | 4 | Isotopic: 14C (calibrated) |
| 3,500 BCE ± 200 years | — | 4 | Correlation: Tephrochronology |
| c. 3,820 BCE | — | 4 | Isotopic: 14C (uncalibrated) |
| 3,930 BCE ± 100 years | — | ? | Isotopic: 14C (calibrated) |
| 4,510 BCE ± 500 years | — | ? | Isotopic: 14C (calibrated) |
| 5,500 BCE ± 200 years | — | 4 | Isotopic: 14C (calibrated) |
| c. 5,800 BCE | — | ? | Isotopic: 14C (uncalibrated) |
| 6,220 BCE ± 200 years | — | 4 | Vent slightly south of present summit · Isotopic: 14C (calibrated) |
| c. 6,450 BCE | — | ? | Vent slightly south of present summit · Isotopic: 14C (uncalibrated) |
| 6,610 BCE ± 150 years | — | 4 | Isotopic: 14C (calibrated) |
| 7,050 BCE ± 1,000 years | — | ? | ESE flank (Sans Nom lava dome) · Isotopic: Uranium-series |
| 7,320 BCE ± 1,730 years | — | ? | Isotopic: 14C (calibrated) |
| 7,750 BCE ± 500 years | — | ? | ESE flank (Aileron lava dome) · Isotopic: Uranium-series |
| 8,210 BCE ± 200 years | — | 4 | Isotopic: 14C (calibrated) |
Data: Global Volcanism Program, Smithsonian Institution (#360120) · Wikipedia (pl) · Wikipedia (en)