NOREEN G.
A World Buried in the Eruption
The 79 AD eruption of Mount Vesuvius in southern Italy is one of the most devastating disasters to strike the ancient world, having caused the destruction of the flourishing Roman city, Pompeii, and the deaths of an estimated 2000 people. The eruption resulted in Pompeii being forgotten and undiscovered for almost 1700 years, as the city was buried beneath four million tonnes of volcanic material and debris. In the 18th century, the ruins of Pompeii were rediscovered and since then, excavated, providing insight into life in an ancient Roman civilisation, preserved in its dying moments.
(Right) Interactive 'Street View'.
A walk in the ruins of Pompeii. |
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TIMELINE OF EVENTS
"Darkness fell, not the dark of a moonless or cloudy night, but as if the lamp had been put out in a dark room." EVENING: Ash and small volcanic stones continue to shower the city, those who chose to stay sheltered in their homes and other stone structures are now trapped inside. It is only a matter of time before the ceilings and roofs and the rest of the city crumble into ruin from the weight of the debris. Blinded by hot ash and choked by noxious gases, the citizens of Pompeii die one by one.
MIDNIGHT: The eruption reaches its peak; with Vesuvius’ plume reaching a maximum height of 30 kilometers as well as superheated ash and molten rock at 300 degrees Celsius rushing down the volcano, a burning avalanche- a pyroclastic surge. This great wave surged straight towards the people waiting on the beach, their bodies buried by boiling mud and pumice, obliterating everything and everyone in its path.
EARLY MORNING: The morning of August 25, 79 AD. Travelling at more than 100km an hour, the pyroclastic surge finally reaches Pompeii. 18 hours after the eruption, the bottom section of the column of the volcano collapses and a final surge engulfs the city in suffocating clouds of poisonous gases, killing all those who survived that remained in Pompeii. |