On May 8th, 1902, at 8:02am, Mount Pelée exploded, vomited pyroclastic flows, killed 30000 people, destroyed the city of Saint Pierre, sank 40 boats, entered history, gave its name to a type of volcanism, even helped to understand Mount Vesuvius eruption in 79AD…Today, the sleeping giant is under constant oversight. Saint Pierre got rebuilt in the middle of its ruins…
As to the pyroclastic flows…When, after Mount Vesuvius’ eruption, Plini the Younger described the phenomenon in his Letters, no one wanted to believe him…Mount Pelée tragically proved he was right. The pyroclastic flows can be 1000 to 3000 meters high, with a temperature up to 1000 degrees C, and their speed can reach 800 km/h. As they can even run on water, nothing can resist them…