Mt. Vesuvius

Courtesy of Arya Ramachandran

It had been dormant for centuries...

Mount Vesuvius is located on the Gulf of Naples in Campania, Italy, about 5.6 mi east of Naples and a short distance from the shore. It had been dormant for centuries before the great eruption on August 24, 79 CE that buried the cities of Pompeii, Oplontis, and Stabiae under ashes.

The eruption lasted 18 hours. Volcanic ash and a hail of pumice stones up to 3 inches in diameter showered Pompeii, forcing the city’s occupants to flee in terror. However, some 2,000 people stayed in Pompeii, holed up in cellars or stone structures, hoping to wait out the eruption. Unfortunately, that did not happen. Pompeii was buried under 14 to 17 feet of ash and pumice, and the nearby seacoast was drastically changed.

The ancient cities of Pompeii and nearby Herculaneum thrived near the base of Mount Vesuvius at the Bay of Naples. These cities were never really rebuilt. In the 18th century, Pompeii was rediscovered and excavated, providing an unprecedented archaeological record of the everyday life of an ancient civilization. Because the city was buried so quickly by volcanic ash, the site is a well-preserved snapshot of life in a Roman city. The remains of 2,000 men, women, and children were found at Pompeii. Needless to say, Latin was the spoken language during that period.

Today, Mount Vesuvius is the only active volcano on the European mainland. Its last eruption was in 1944 and its last major eruption was in 1631. Another eruption is expected in the near future, which could be devastating for the 700,000 people who live in the “death zones” around Vesuvius.

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