Mount Pelee on the Island of Martinique erupted in the early
20^(th )
century. Why is this eruption famous? It was the first caldera forming eruption observed by modern scientists. It produced a major lateral blast that leveled a city, killing many people. It was a small cinder cone on an island that erupted in a sugar cane field. The volcano produced a pyroclastic flow that swept down the mountain, killing thousands of people.