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Mount Pelée belongs to a classic island arc, i.e. a curved chain of volcanoes, approx. 530 miles long, between Puerto Rico and Venezuela (South America), where the Caribbean  tectonic plate meets the Atlantic plate.
The Atlantic plate slips under the Caribbean plate at intervals from 1 to 2 cm/year, and plunges in the mantle. Partial fusion of the plate along with sediments forms the magma feeding the volcanoes of the Lesser Antilles. Diagram of the Lesser Antilles' subduction zone This process is also responsible for the seismicity of that region. Other regional volcanoes are also famous for their volcanic activities or eruption style : Saint-Vincent's Soufriere, Guadeloupe's Soufriere, Montserrat's Soufriere Hills, and the Kick'Em Jenny, submarine volcano.
Map of the Lesser Antilles : volcanic arc and subduction zone
Deadliest volcanic eruptions in the Lesser Antilles - (modified from Belouet, 1998)
| Volcano | Country | Date | Number of deaths | Cause of death | | Soufriere | St. Vincent | 1812 | 56 | | | Mt. Pelée | Martinique | May 5th 1902 | 30 | Lahar | | Soufriere | St. Vincent | May 7th 1902 | 1,565 | Pyroclastic flow | | Mt. Pelée | Martinique | May 7th 1902 | 400 | | | May 8th 1902 | 28,000 | Pyroclastic flow | | August 30th 1902 | 1000 | Pyroclastic flow | | Soufriere Hills | Montserrat | June 25th 1997 | 19 | Pyroclastic flow | |
Mt Pelée 101 
