August 30th, 1000 victims 

The second deadly eruption occured on August 30th, 1902. This tragedy is also the result of a terrible mistake.

After the loss of the acting Governor in St. Pierre, the Lt. Governor of Martinique was in charge of the management of the volcanic crisis. All the areas facing the volcano were therefore evacuated after May 8th. The authorities of the island received some scientific advice from US and French scientists who traveled to Martinique when the news of the disaster spread around the world. Mount Pelée was quite active in May and June with powerful explosions, but at that time, all the pyroclastic flows were directed toward the St. Pierre area, which was already devastated.

By the end of July, the eruption seemed to settle down, so the acting governor decided to send the refugees back to their villages in the North. His decision was mainly motivated by the fact that most of the refugee centers were overcrowded and epidemics were feared... At the end of August, Mount Pelée showed some signs of increased activity.... But no evacuation was ordered... probably because the Lt Governor assumed that the pyroclastic flows would be directed westward... At that time, the French scientist Alfred Lacroix was done with his first mission and had travelled back to France... Facing the strong precursory signs, some people wanted to leave the volcanic region, but they would have been left without any assistance, so most of them remained in the area...The eruption of August 30th was more powerful than the May 8th blast. Pyroclastic flows devastated the eastern and southern sides of the volcano, destroying neighborhoods in Basse-Pointe, Lorrain, Ajoupa-Bouillon, and the center of Morne-Rouge.