Vesuvius Erupts: Pompeii Buried in Ash
Mount Vesuvius erupted on August 24, 79 AD, burying the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum under roughly 20 feet of volcanic ash and pumice. Pliny the Younger, watching from across the Bay of Naples, recorded the event in letters that remain the first detailed eyewitness account of a volcanic eruption. His uncle, Pliny the Elder, sailed toward the eruption to rescue friends and died from the toxic gases. Pompeii's roughly 11,000 inhabitants had roughly 18 hours to flee, and most did. Those who remained were killed by pyroclastic surges reaching temperatures of 300 degrees Celsius. The ash preserved the city in extraordinary detail: food on tables, graffiti on walls, bodies in their final moments.
August 24, 79
1947 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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