Mount Vesuvius

Mount Vesuvius

Known Activity:>Eruption in 79 A.D., killing 16,000 people and burying the city of Pompei. > Eruption in 1631, killing around 3,000 people in surrounding villages and the nearby city of Naples > Most recent eruption in 1944. Ruins of Pompei were discovered in the aftermath

Eruption of 1944

Vesuvius today

Classification Mount Vesuvius is a stratovolcano(composite volcano), meaning it explodes with pyroclastic material as well as secretes molten lava.

Pliny the Younger

"Ash was falling onto the ships now, darker and denser the closer they went. Now it was bits of pumice, and rocks that were blackened and burned and shattered by the fire. Now the sea is shoal; debris from the mountain blocks the shore. He paused for a moment wondering whether to turn back as the helmsman urged him. "Fortune helps the brave," he said, "Head for Pomponianus."~Pliny the Younger

Pliny the Younger was a was a lawyer, author, and magistrate of Ancient Rome. Pliny's uncle, Pliny the Elder, helped raise and educate him. They were both witnesses to the eruption of Vesuvius on August 24, 79 AD.

Painting of 79 A.D. eruption

Although it has not erupted in over 70 years, Vesuvius is still considered active.

This eruption destroyed three surrounding villages and claimed 28 lives

Pliny describes the event in a letter to his friend, a historian named Tacitus