Volcano eruptions are sporadic, yet common phenomena throughout the world and over time. What is common from the devastation is destruction of the local environment, including fauna and flora, the landscape, as well as air and water quality. However, occasionally a volcano will cause such a great eruption that it adversely affects surrounding human communities, always negatively. This is the case with the 1902 eruption of Mount Pelee on Martinique and the recent eruptions in Montserrat in the late 1990’s. I will explore both situations and find out why although both volcanoes had devastating effects upon their respective communities, the island of Martinique was definitely more negatively impacted by Mount Pelee than in Montserrat’s respective eruptions. The 1902 eruption of Mount Pelee occurred on the Caribbean island of Martinique. The volcano is located at the northern part of the island, which is only 6 kilometers away from the city of St. Pierre. This eruption was “the first recognized example of what French geologists named a nuee ardente (glowing cloud), more widely known today as a pyroclastic flow” (Zelinger de Boer and Sanders, 2002, pg. 186). Martinique is a part of a volcanic arc of the Lesser Antilles, which is part of an 850-mile chain of islands from Grenada to Saba. It has been documented that the volcanic activity in that area is caused by the subduction of the Caribbean tectonic plate with the North American plate. Mount Pelee is one of the most active volcanoes in the Lesser Antilles and has had twenty-six eruptions in the last three thousand years. Tom Simpkin and Lee Siebert, geologists of the Smithsonian Institution, believe that “Pelee generally has erupted at intervals of 50 to 150 years” (Zelinger de Boer and Sanders, pg. 189) with large eruptions (similar to the one in 1902) occurring about once every 500 years. Similar to Martinique, Montserrat is located in the Caribbean. It is believed that the volcano of Montserrat had erupted before, however there are no exact dates that log these eruptions. There is also evidence that suggests the people fled the island because of the volcano sometime shortly after Christopher Columbus visited. According to historians approximately 300,000 people have been killed by volcanic eruptions on Montserrat in the last millennium. The inhabitants of Montserrat believed that the volcano on the island to be extinct. This was unfortunately proved wrong in the summer of 1995 when the volcano “roared to life” (O’Hanley, 2001). The damage done to the island of Montserrat was extensive and devastating. A combination of lava, ash and pyroclastic flows combined to destroy essentially all communities that surrounded the area of the volcano. The dangerous flow of debris caused the residents within the communities that surrounded the volcano to evacuate to the northern side of the island. I believe that the volcano certainly challenged and threatened the existence of the island. Not only were many families forced to move, many others chose to evacuate. This implies that many of the people were tired of living in the volcanic area. Not only do the inhabitants have to deal with the aftermath and destruction of the eruption, they must piece their lives and communities together while living in fear of another eruption. Rather than stay and rebuild their communities, such as many volcanic societies have done so in the past, these people chose to flee. This in turn significantly decreased the population of the island. The community and area were impacted heavily by the eruption, which was perhaps the last straw which caused native residents to leave. Unfortunately the airport was damaged from the eruption so the masses had to leave by boat. Though the death toll was relatively low given the situation, a majority of the population left, which left little people remaining in the area. After the eruption on Montserrat, the islanders began to reestablish its society starting in the north, which is where most of the current islanders live. However, there have been warnings that the volcanic activity may spread into the designated “safe zone” in the north, which poses a threat to those still residing there. There are still “22 international business companies, 30 Companies Act companies-most conducting local business-and nine of its 15 offshore banks” (O’Hanley), so the economic situation throughout the area is still viable. Despite the potential danger, people continue to attempt to live their lives in the potentially dangerous area and continue to rebuild the island. Although the island of Martinique did not suffer the same extent of surface devastation caused by Mount Pelee on Montserrat, the economy and political situation suffered. When these elements in a community and threatened and damaged it creates higher devastation among the community of Martinique compared to Montserrat. Similar to the eruption in Montserrat, pyroclastic flows were major hazards of Martinique, as well water hazards caused by debris flowing into water reservoirs. The overflowing rivers were a major factor that influenced the economic problems faced by Martinique. The flooded rivers killed farm animals and uprooted vegetation all around the surrounding farmlands. It destroyed crops that not only fed the people, but also were the livelihoods of many inhabitants. The Roxalene river caused another example of economic turmoil. The river flowed directly through St. Pierre and “flooded low-lying parts of the city before washing its grisly cargo out to sea” (Zelinger de Boer and Sanders, pg. 200). This seriously affected (by limiting) their import/export businesses (mainly that of sugar and rum), which was a large business loss for the island people because St. Pierre was a major port town. The water also had a long-lasting effect on the community as it became contaminated and people were contracting diseases and sometimes dying from it. The political situation at the time of the eruption was conflicted to say the least. Martinique had a “well-defined social structure” (Zelinger de Boer and Sanders, pg. 196) at the time of the eruption. Settlers of French ancestry who were known as the “bekes” were running the island. In 1902, socialists were on the “threshold of wrestling political control of the island from the conservative bekes” (Zelinger de Boer and Sanders, pg. 197). In the primary election, the socialists were actually winning over the people and defeating the bekes. The eruption on Martinique occurred just days before the election and the government had ordered the residents to not flee the area. The governor believed that the volcano posed no threat, however, some feel that he was panicked about winning the election so to he forced people to stay in order to ensure full turn out for the upcoming election. It seemed as thought the political situation of Martinique was about to change, however, we may never know because the eruption killed almost all of the 30,000 residents almost instantly. Because of the eruption, the outcome of the election was left unknown. This put a great emphasis on the election because it was in a situation where it would drastically change the politics and directly affect the way of life for the people on the island. However, the elections were never held and the “political ascendancy of the black and mixed-race citizens of Martinique was set back for decades” (Zelinger de Boer and Sanders, pg. 207). Although both islands discussed suffered devastating blows from the respective volcanic eruptions they endured, it seems that Martinique suffered significantly more. Although Montserrat suffered losses in the islands’ environment, which drove the people away their was hardly any loss of life or prosperity. In Martinique thousands of people died as well as their livelihoods destroyed. Their community was torn apart, which includes economical and political aspects. Mount Pelee caused such mass destruction that it will take many generations to try and rebuild, leaving the island deeply changed forever.
