On the day Mount Vesuvius erupted there were plenty of warning signs for the local population yet they were caught totally unprepared. There were a series of earthquakes and smoke rose from the volcano slowly. If they were to have noticed these signs early many lives could have been saved.
The eruption started with several earthquakes early on the first morning. Small amounts of smoke started to rise from the volcano but nothing too alarming. At around noon the same day, the volcano erupts with great force. A cloud of volcanic material rises up into the sky, roughly reaching 14 km high. The ash drifts over the surrounding towns, including Pompeii. A few hours later debris such as hardened lava rains over Pompeii. The volcano keeps spewing out ash adding to the enormous ash cloud which now stands 25km high and eventually covered Pompeii. Some buildings collapse because of the weight of ash and debris leaving many trapped. In the early hours of the next day, scolding mudflows mixed with steam and volcanic debris spilled down the slope and took out the surrounding city of Herculaneum. Ash and Debris in Pompeii has reached the height of the upper story buildings. The gigantic ash cloud collapses with a mixture of superheated ash and gases heading for Herculaneum taking out any survivors. A second and hotter surge races down the mountain and leaves Herculaneum completely buried. Earthquakes still continue to shake the whole area and the ash clogged air makes it nearly impossible for survivors in Pompeii to breathe. The third surge and the strongest rushes down the slope but is blocked by Pompeii’s north wall. After a series of more surges the wall gives way and the town is covered in toxic gases, lava and smothered in ash. Any survivors were killed instantly and Pompeii was buried. Roughly 2000 people died but some believe that nearly 16,000 peoples lives were lost. |