Mount Vesuvius

This Deadly volcano killed 847 deaths when it last erupted in 1991

The Vesuvius side has a characteristic Mediterranean-type vegetation. Colonisation of the lava by vegetation happens thanks to a greyish-silver lichen called Stereocaulon vesuvianum, which prepares the ground for settlement by other pioneering species, and eventually maquis or scrub is formed. The Somma side instead is damper and is covered by mesophyll forest vegetation, with a prevalence of mixed woodlands of Chestnut, Oak, Alder, Maple and Ilex trees

More than 7,000 people died during the four recorded major eruptions of Mount Vesuvius in the years 79 (2,000 deaths), 1631 (3,000 deaths), 1794 (unknown deaths - destroyed the town of Torre del Greco), 1906 (2,000 deaths).

Mount Vesuvius is a stratovolcano located in Italy near Naples. It has a conical shape with a steep-sided crater at the top. The volcano is known for its historical eruption in 79 AD that buried the ancient Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum.

The unexpected catastrophe It is certain that when the eruption of Vesuvius started on the morning of 24 August, AD 79, it caught the local population utterly unprepared. Although at the same time, as we now know in retrospect, all the tell-tale signs were there to warn them. It is mainly thanks to the vivid eye-witness account of the younger Pliny (a Roman administrator and poet, whose many vivid letters have been preserved), that we have some understanding of what happened. And it is through him that we can gain insight into the reactions and feelings of the people caught up in the drama of this natural catastrophe. Pliny's account leaves no doubt that everyone was caught unprepared. His uncle, known as Pliny the Elder, was stationed in command of the imperial naval base at Misenum, on the north-west extremity of the Bay of Naples. He was not only the senior military officer in the district, but possibly the most well informed living Roman on matters of natural science. His 37-volume Natural History is the longest work on science in Latin that has survived from antiquity. But for all his science and his seniority, his nephew tells us that the elder Pliny was relaxing, after a bath and lunch, when Vesuvius started to erupt. And the sighting of a column of smoke 'like an umbrella pine' on the far side of the Bay triggered a response more of curiosity than of alarm in him. He and his companions were evidently not anticipating such an event. The same account reveals, however, that the signs were there. Pliny's casual reference to earth tremors 'which were not particularly alarming because they are frequent in Campania' reveals the Roman's comprehensive ignorance of the link between seismic activity (earth tremors) and volcanic activity. The volcanologists of today constantly monitor any changes in levels of seismic activity from the observatory on Vesuvius, because they know that the same increase of activity in the deep reservoir of magma (molten or partially molten rock beneath the Earth's surface) causes both earth tremors and volcanic eruptions. Through measuring seismic activity, these scientists expect to predict an approaching eruption months in advance. They also know that the activity of Vesuvius is recurrent, and that the longer the intervals between one eruption and another, the greater the eventual explosion will be. The frequent but low-level activity of Vesuvius in recent centuries has relieved the build-up of pressure in the magma chamber. The catastrophic magnitude of the eruption of AD 79 was connected with the extended period of inactivity that preceded it. A long interval combined with mounting seismic activity is a sure sign of impending disaster. Of course, the Romans could not know this, and our own knowledge owes much to the care of Pliny's description. The long inactivity of the volcano naturally lulled the people of the region into a false sense of security, though they were aware of the signs of burning at the peak of the mountain. They were not the first to be so lulled: recent excavations at the site of the new NATO base at Gricignano, on the north of the Bay, have revealed two catastrophic eruptions that preceded that of 79, and wiped out the populations of a densely occupied territory. The most important earlier eruption, known as that of the 'Avellino pumice' occurred around 1800 BC; several sites, especially one near Nola, reveal the destruction of Bronze Age settlements, with their huts and pots and pans and livestock. But of this the Romans knew nothing.

Mt. Vesuvius erupted on August 24th 79 A.D.

Lots and lots of damage and it cost over 90,000 to repair everything.

Mt. Vesuvius was sacred to Romans and Greeks because of Hercules/Heracles. Herculaneum was named after him. Mt. Vesuvius was sacred to Romans and Greeks because of Hercules/Heracles. Herculaneum was named after him.

in 1991 the Phillippines had a Volcanic eruption that carried ash to the eastcoast of Africa.The Ash had Traveled 4,971miles

Before Mount Vesuvius erupted on Pompeii, Italy, it erupted in an even more powerful explosion that affected the area opccupied by present-day Naples. It left the region a desert wasteland for centuries. it covered everything in ash and left plants and animals to die but not only plants and animals but people practically evryone died in this eruption

Mount Vesuvius is a volcano with a history of producing enormous explosive eruptions. Most famously it destroyed Pompeii and several other towns in 79 AD. Today about 3 million people live near the volcano, close enough to be affected by falling ash and pyroclastic flows.

Pompeii is the closest city to Mt Vesuvius

It lasted for 18 hours

The last major eruption of Mount Vesuvius was in 1944, during the Second World War when the Allies were advancing North through Italy. British and American army engineers played a major role in evacuating local people from the area around the mountain, and also in treating the injured and making damaged buildings safe. Since then, Vesuvius has had several very minor 'rumbles', though no real reuptions to speak of.

Because they did not have the same knowledge of a volcano as we do today and could not outrun the eruption. If they weren't killed from the initial eruption, they would be killed by the ash and pumice rock that came pelting down from the sky. It wasn't safe for them to stay in their houses either because the pumice rock would accumulate and cause the house to cave in.

Mount Vesivius is not extinct. It has erupted as recently as 1944.

No. No mountain on Earth is even close to that height. Mount Vesuvius has an elevation of 4,203 feet, less than a mile. The tallest mountain on Earth, Mount Everest, is 29,029 feet or 5.5 miles high.

The eruption column of the 79 eruption of Mount Vesuvius reach a height of about 20 miles. This was not part of the mountain but a plume of ash and gas.

yes

At the time of the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 of the Common Era, Vesuvius was largely a vacation spot on the Gulf of Naples for wealthy Roman landowners who had numerous villas in the area. Although the eruption killed all inhabitants in area and surrounding regions and was mentioned in Pliny's writing, the buried city became "lost" to history until 1749 when it was rediscovered by the Spanish engineer Joaquin de Alcubierre. The area around Pompeii was agriculturally rich and the citizens who owned farms became wealthy. Much of the produce was last to commerce. Rome, itself, essentially lost its vacation spot but continued to prosper and grow into the vast Roman Empire. Excavations since have determined that the citizenry of the cities, Pompeii and Herculaneum died from intense heat (482-degrees Fahrenheit) rather than ash. The recovered remains of the cities have provided historians, art historians, sociologists and anthropologists with considerable information about daily life in one of Rome's most prosperous "colonies."

1944

yes

Mount Vesuvius has experienced eight major eruptions in the last 17,000 years. The 79 AD eruption is one of the most well-known ancient eruptions in the world, and may have killed more than 16,000 people.

If you mean Positano, it's located in Campania, in the south-east of Italy, near Naples

i think it is a 100 mile radius

It didn't