27 years after its destructive eruption, mount Pelée awoke once again. The growing dome betwen 1929 and 1932 (ph. Perret / Carnegie Institution of Washington) This eruption is somehow less known than the tragic events of 1902. There were no casualties and the damages were limited to the destruction of a road between St. Pierre and Prêcheur, and the loss of a few livestock. 
Pyroclastic flow moving down the Blanche river valley :
February 8th 1930
(ph. Perret / Carnegie Institution of Washington) This eruption has been studied by F. A. Perret, an American volcanologist who came to Martinique at the beginning of 1930. He settled in St. Pierre. The reviving village was then evacuated, and Perret contributed to reassure the population. From March 1930, inhabitants started to go back into the Northern region.
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Chronology of the eruption |
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From March 1929, several witnesses reported an abnormal fumarollic activity at the summit of the volcano.
On August 16th, at about 9:45 pm, a sudden outburst threw a vapor column, and light ash falls over the settlements on the leeward side of mount Pelée. Some landslides were reported thereafter on the summit.
In the following weeks, the intensity of the observed phenomena decreased progressively.
On September 16th, 1929, at 10:00 pm, a violent eruption caused spontaneous evacuations of all the villages around the volcanoes. The population was allowed to return to their homes at the beginning of October, after an assessment made by a visiting geologist.
On October 14th, at 4:00 am, a new eruption, far more violent than the previous ones, threw dense ashfalls on Prêcheur.
The eruption of October 18th started at 1:00 am and covered the whole western side of the volcano with ashes.
On October 22nd, at 5:00 am a new eruption delivered a  pyroclastic flow (nuee ardente) which took 10 minutes to reach the sea along the Blanche river valley.  Mt. Pelee erupting, 1930
(ph. Perret / Carnegie Institution of Washington) The frequency of the eruptions then increased although they were less violent. The avalanches were caused by the collapses of a second dome growing in the caldeira. Similar avalanches occurred until December 1932 and all of them were travelling along the valley of the Blanche river.
People from St Pierre constructing a monitoring field station
close to the crater, November 1930
(ph. Perret / Carnegie Institution of Washington) |
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Historical eruptions 
