THE HISTORY OF MOUNT PELÉE IN MARTINIQUE

Mount Pelée, active volcanic mountain

Mount Pelée, active volcanic mountain Martinique. Situated 24 km northwest of Fort-de-France, it reaches an elevation of 1,397 metres. Pelée, whose name is a French term meaning “Bald,” consists of layers of volcanic ash and lavas.

In 1902 it was much higher. The volcano had shown signs of activity in 1792 and 1851, although in both cases the eruptions were minor.

From the fortnight of April 1902, the mountain had begun to show signs of activity with underground rumblings, slight tremors and cracking in plots, from which fumaroles spewed sulphur.

On Thursday 1 May 1902, the volcano began to spew ash around it, which covered the surrounding fields and also polluted the waters near the harbour itself.

Beginning of the destruction

Governor Louis Mouttet was receiving reports and warnings that unusual volcanic activity was developing, but for political reasons he tried to lower the profile of the events by resisting a general evacuation of St. Pierre. At night, low-intensity earthquakes, accompanied by underground rumblings, kept the population awake at night.

On Friday 2 May, reports were received of fumaroles, hot mudslides and an incessant rain of fine volcanic ash. Some consulates opted to close their buildings and ordered their staff to board ships anchored in port; in fact, some captains decided to leave as soon as possible because they felt the island was in danger.

By Saturday 3 May, the western slope of Mount Pelée was completely covered in white ash, and numerous groups of refugees and fleeing locals arrived in St Pierre. They reported that several of the 22 neighbouring rivers were overflowing and the Roxelane River, a river very close to the volcano, was completely polluted with animal carcasses and some human bodies on its banks. Faced with desperate queries from the inhabitants, the mayor of St. Pierre, Roger Fouché, together with the governor, tried to calm the population and insisted that the events would cease and that nothing bad would happen.

From 4 to 7 May, Mount Pelée went into a phase of pyrotechnic activity spewing incandescent clastic projections and a fumarole began to take over the heights above St. Pierre. A swarm of vermin, including ants, centipedes, spiders of all kinds and poisonous vipers, invaded the streets of St. Pierre to escape the death they sensed and drove the population into their homes. A massive mudslide burst into the sea and caused a tidal wave that broke the moorings of several ships in the bay. By this time, St. Pierre had a refugee population of over 30,000, causing acute food shortages.

On Thursday 8 May, the SS Roraima of the Quebec Line anchored at around 6 a.m. 900 m off St Pierre; its 50 crew members witnessed the pyroclastic flow slowly descending the slope of Mount Pelée.

Download the article on the eruption and its consequences

A cataclysmic eruption phase

At 7.30 a.m., the volcano entered a declared cataclysmic eruption phase, spewing large quantities of lava. A colossal, dense pyroclastic plume rose to a height of more than 10 km and developed very rapidly. Thirty minutes later, this same column, having yielded the initial vertical thrust pressure, collapsed by gravity and with a temperature of 400-600 °C descended down the slopes covered with incandescent lava until it covered the ground and completely devastated St. Pierre and the harbour itself. The same event buried the city of Pompeii in 79 AD in Naples, Italy.

The pyroclastic flow advanced along the surface of the sea hitting several ships at anchor, including the SS Roraima, whose cargo of potassium nitrate caught fire destroying its structure and incinerating its passengers.

The Pouyer-Quertier, a French steamer arriving on the scene, witnessed the annihilation of the city. The radio operator sent an urgent message to Fort-de-France:

St. Pierre destroyed by eruption of the Pelée, send all possible help.

The city burst into flames, tons of sugar cane and sugar cane burned, and some 30,000 people perished almost instantly, some suffocated, others incinerated. For many, death took on horrific characteristics.

Several ships at anchor were hit by the pyroclastic cloud and burned to death, all their crews dead, transforming them into floating ossuaries; among them were US ships, such as the mixed vessel SS Roraima with 50 people on board, the steamship Rodman and the SS Tamaya.