I am trying to locate a vulcano called "Pele". From your web site I
learned that Pele was the Hiawan god of volcanoes, but I am looking for a
vulcano called Pele. Also, from your web site I found a reference to a
"mount Pele" in west Indies (Martenique).
I am guessing that this Mt. Pele in Martinique is the vulcano I'm
looking for. Is" Mt. Pele" a vulcano? If so, what is its activity status?
How likely is it to erupt in the next few years? Are there any other
volcanos in the world called "Pele". If so, where? and whats their activity
status? Thanks! Your web page is great. One of the very best! Lay
out, organization, and general usefullness (ease of use) is tops; and I
have seen hundreds of web pages so my praise is not naive -- you guys ha
ve done a great job.
Tom Campbell
Hi Tom,
You are right, Pele is the Hawaiian goddess of volcanoes. The volcano on
the island of Martinique is called Mt. Pelee. I found a short paragraph
in the book "The Eruption of Mt. Pelee 1929-1932" by Frank Perret. It says:
"It is still an unsettled question whether the name "Pelee" is derived
from the French "pelee" bald (literally peeled) mountain, or whether the
Carib inhabitants, who called it the "mountain of fire," named it for
"Pele" the Hawaiian goddess of fire. I have been unable to interrogate
Carib descendants as to their use of this word."
I don't know if anyone has figured out this puzzle yet. As to its present
activity, the last reported eruption was in 1929, according to "Volcanoes
of the World" by Tom Simkin and Lee Seibert. Of course Mt. Pelee is
famous for its 1902 eruption in which pyroclastic flows raced down the
slopes and thgrough the city of St. Pierre, killing almost 30,000 people.
Other volcanoes named Pele, also from "Volcanoes of the World" are:
Mont Pele (also called Le Djungo) in W. Africa
Pu'u o Pele, a cinder cone in Haleakala crater, Maui, Hawai'i
Pele (also called Fatouleo-Kakoulo), in Vanuatu
There is also a place on the summit of Lo'ihi, the youngest Hawaiian
volcano (that hasn'tyet broken the surface) that has been unofficially
named "Pele's vents".
Good question.
Sincerely,
Scott Rowland
Other Categories
Other Questions
To VolcanoWorld