By Caoimhe Leamy The eruption of Mount Vesuvius

W HERE IS MOUNT V ESUVIUS ? Mount Vesuvius is a volcano about 9km inland from the gulf of Naples in Italy. It is one of the several volcanoes which forms the companion volcanic arc shown in red below.

B ACKGROUND TO THE E RRUPTION It is considered one of the most dangerous volcanos in the world. It is called the Stratovolcano which is a volcano made up of layers of Ash and Lava It was no surprise that Mt Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD as the signs were there years before : In 63 AD, a big earthquake took place and was still being repaired when Mt. Vesuvius erupted many years later.

W HAT HAPPENED ? In 79 AD 24 th of August, it erupted and expelled molten rock and pumice at a rate of 1.5 tons per sec It covered the whole town of Pompeii which is nearby with many of its people being buried alive. The following morning a toxic cloud of gas descended on the town 20,000 people lived in Pompeii and 5,000 lived in Herculaneum, a town nearby and it’s estimated that 16,000 people died

T HE AFTERMATH ? Normally after a disaster, cities are rebuilt but not on this occasion – why … ? Apparently the damage was so extensive that no attempt was made to re-occupy the area. However looters returned to Pompeii, digging tunnels through the Ash and robbing many of the cities riches. Being covered in molten lava and ash, which acted as a preservative, then many bodies were preserved as shown.

C URRENT STATUS Mt Vesuvius is still considered an active Volcano. The most recent eruption occurred in 1944 Experts believe that a massive eruption could happen again soon so more than 2 million people who live in the area are still in danger. The region is now a famous tourist attraction with thousands visiting there each year.