In less than a minute, the eruption of Mount Pelee wiped out the whole city of St. Pierre. Only three people made it out alive.
St. Pierre soon before the eruption of Mount Pelee.Wikimedia Commons Mount Pelee erupts.Wikimedia Commons St. Pierre soon after the eruption.SMU Central University Library A statue of the Virgin Mary, once housed in the city's cathedral, lays in the sand just after the eruption.SMU Central University Library The devastated coast of St. Pierre after the eruption.SMU Central University Library The charred remains of a man who wasn't able to escape in time.SMU Central University Library A group watches Mount Pelee erupt from a distance.New York Public Library The relief party heads out to see the devastation.SMU Central University Library A rescue team works through the rubble in search of survivors.SMU Central University Library Men search through the ruins of what was once St. Pierre's Rum District.Library of Congress Dust still fills the air in the streets of St. Pierre shortly after Mount Pelee's fury was unleashed.SMU Central University Library Fifteen dead bodies lay in a huddle in the ruined streets of St. Pierre.SMU Central University Library The ruins of St. Pierre.Library of Congress A dead body washed up in the rubble of the city.Library of Congress A family killed by the volcano lie in their beds.SMU Central University Library Smoke still drifts off the dead trees of Martinique after the eruption.SMU Central University Library The charred remains of a man's body lies in a pile of dead, fallen trees.SMU Central University Library Two men survey the devastation.SMU Central University Library The St. Pierre Cathedral lies in ruins.SMU Central University Library A destroyed building, reflected in the water below.Library of Congress The men work to dig through the volcanic ash that covers St. Pierre's streets.SMU Central University Library One of the city's banks lies in ruins.SMU Central University Library A chaotic mess of rubble lies where a city once stood.SMU Central University Library Another sight of the destruction.SMU Central University Library A relief worker looks down on the dead city.Library of Congress A man stands by an archway where a building once stood.Wikimedia Commons St. Pierre's Signal Station.SMU Central University Library A dead animal lies in the ditch, a victim of the eruption.SMU Central University Library The interior of a fort devastated by the eruption.SMU Central University Library A man looks out over the devastated city.SMU Central University Library Refugees in Martinique who were far enough away from the eruption to survive prepare to leave their homes.Library of Congress In Fort de France, elsewhere in Martinique where people are still alive, refugees prepare to leave the country.Wikimedia Commons Refugees from Martinique arrive at St. Lucia.SMU Central University Library A grave stands before the eruption of Mt. Pelée.Wikimedia Commons
The Devastation Of Mount Pelee, The Worst Volcanic Disaster Of The 20th Century View GalleryThe eruption of Mount Pelee was the worst volcanic disaster of the 20th century. In less than a minute, the volcano eviscerated the entire city of St. Pierre, the biggest city in the Caribbean island of Martinique. More than 30,000 people died — and only three made it out alive.
In the days leading up to May 8, 1902, the volcano had been smoking and emitting vapors for days before the eruption, but locals had seen it do this before. Most thought there was no reason to worry — until a cloud of ash descended onto the city.
As it then became likely that Mount Pelee would soon erupt, panic quickly grew in the city below. Some fled, running as far out of the city as they could before the volcano could erupt.
The papers, though, still assured the people that it was safe to stay. Some were even denied permission to leave — and so thousands of people stayed, right up until the moment that the volcano rained devastation upon them.
Then, on May 8, as the people below celebrated the feast of Christ’s ascension into heaven, a gigantic mushroom cloud filled the sky. A cloud of ash surged over the city, glowing with an incredible heat of nearly 2000 degrees Fahrenheit. In less than 60 seconds, the entire city was destroyed.
People burned to death on the spot, some so quickly that they didn’t even feel a second of pain. Others felt their blood start to boil and tried to run, collapsing under pumice and hot ash with twisted, agonizing screams permanently held on their faces. The city itself burst into flames and, across Martinique, a soft snow of white ash fell from the sky.
There were only three survivors. A ten-year-old girl named Havivra Da Ifrile managed to get into a boat and row to shelter inside of a cave until rescue came. Léon Compère-Léandre, after seeing the people around him falling down dead, leaped into the boiling hot ocean. His whole body was covered in burns, but he managed to make it out alive.
The other survivor was a violent criminal, Louis-Auguste Cyparis. He was locked in solitary confinement in a stone cell when the volcano erupted, which, by chance, put him in the safest place in the city. As the city burned, Cyparis waited, his body covered in burns, for rescue. He spent four days in a burning city before the city around him cooled down enough for a relief team to come in and pull him out alive.
The rest, though, were not so lucky. Every other person in St. Pierre died in an instant, wiped out in a blanket of ash and volcanic pumice — victims of the worst volcanic disaster of the 20th century.
After this look at Mount Pelee, learn about the havoc of the San Francisco earthquake of 1906 and the worst volcanic disasters in history.
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