G7-Mt. Pinatubo-Approaching-03

In April of that year, a series of steam explosions caught the attention of Dr Raymundo Punongbayan. He is the Director of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) in Manila, the Philippines’ capital city. He immediately sent his team of scientists to investigate. The team wasted no time setting up their seismographs and began monitoring the earthquakes that were occurring at an increasing rate. The team also investigated a new fissure that had opened on the mountain’s northern slope. This new fissure was emitting steam and sulfur dioxide. Sensing this might be a precursor to a larger event, Dr Punongbayan called his friend, Dr Chris Newhall. Dr Newball works for the US Geological Survey (USGS). Within days of that call, you received your call.

Working together, the two scientists sent in their teams of volcanologists to Clark Air Force Base. It was there they set up shop. The teams worked around the clock to learn as much as possible about the volcano. In total, seven telemetered seismic sites and two telemetered tiltmeters to measure ground deformation. The team even brought a COSPEC (correlation spectrometry) instrument to measure sulfur dioxide gases. All the data gathered would be to answer the question, “Will Pinatubo erupt catastrophically, and if so, when?”

As the weeks passed, the teams became convinced of an eminent eruption. From the moment the teams flew into the area by helicopter, they could see thick layers of materials left from previous eruptions. Pinatubo may not erupt often, but when it does, it seems to always be very violent. Evidence was not pointing to a catastrophic eruption. The focus now shifted to the second part of the question, “When?”