Natural Disaster: 24 Hours in Pompeii
The event at Pompeii 79AD is known worldwide. But what
actually, happened during this catastrophe?
What would it have been like?
This article and video is based on events recorded from an eyewitness at
the time is known as Pliny the Younger and the collection of the British Museum
referenced at the end of the book, it's definitely worth a visit if you are
interested to learn more.
The video below is a reflection of 24 hours in Pompeii
Morning:
Pompeii was an ordinal city. It was very similar to many of
the other urban centres found throughout Italy and the wider Roman Empire. Pompeii’s
population at the time of the eruption was around 12-15000 people. Pompeii was
a large city with a commercial hub, with at least 150 bars and taverns.
The people of Pompeii had no idea that they were in danger
from Mount Vesuvius. For the people of Pompeii, the day of the eruption would
have started like any other. The busy streets of the cities would have been full
of ordinary people.
For Romans living around the Bay of Naples in southern
Italy, Vesuvius was considered as just a fertile mountain, perfect for farming.
Although it had been active in the 8th century BC it had been dormant ever
since, leaving the people of the cities with a false sense of security. Only if
they knew what was to occur.
Violent earthquakes in AD 62 or 63 were caused as the gases
which had built up within the cone tried to force their way out.
In AD 79 the pressure had built up again, and the thick
layer of lava hardened to form a plug in the crater, this plug was not enough
to contain the gases, meaning the cap was weak and vulnerable. For several days
now there had been earth tremors affecting the surrounding area.
Midday:
After several small explosions, Vesuvius erupts, sending a tall mushroom cloud of superheated rock and gas over 20km into the sky. The
cloud blows southwards, plunging everything into total darkness.
“About one in the
afternoon… a cloud was ascending, the appearance which I cannot give you more of an exact description than by likening it to that of a pine tree, for it shot up
to a great height in the form of a very tall trunk, which spread itself out at
the top into a sort of branches; occasioned, I imagine, either by a sudden gust
of air that impelled it, the force of which decreased as it advanced upwards,
or the cloud itself being pressed back again by its own weight expanded in the manner I have mentioned; it appeared sometimes bright and sometimes dark and
spotted, according to as it was either more or less impregnated with earth and
cinders”.
-Pliny the Younger
describes the Vesuvius eruption
The mountain emits noxious gases and extremely loud noises.
Violent tremors cause buildings to collapse. People flee to the beach, hoping for
rescue from the sea but floating banks of pumice prevent ships from reaching or
leaving the shore.
As the eruption engulfed the cities, many of the people
fleeing for their lives paused to grab objects of value such as jewellery and
coins. Perhaps they hoped to provide a safeguard against difficult times ahead.
“He ordered the
galleys to be put to sea… Hastening then to the place from whence others fled
with the utmost terror, he steered his course direct to the point of danger,
and with so much calmness and presence of mind as to be able to make and
dictate his observations upon the motion and all the phenomena of that dreadful
scene.
He was now so close to
the mountain that the cinders, which grew thicker and hotter the nearer he
approached, fell into the ships, together with pumice stones, and black pieces
of burning rock: they were in danger too not only of being aground by the
sudden retreat of the sea, but also from the vast fragments which rolled down
from the mountain, and obstructed all the shore.”
-Pliny the Younger
describes how his uncle, Pliny the Elder, went to the aid of those at the foot
of Mount Vesuvius.
“They consulted
together whether it would be most prudent to trust to the houses, which now
rocked from side to side with frequent and violent concussions as though shaken
from their very foundations; or fly to the open fields, where the calcined
stones and cinders, though light indeed, yet fell in large showers, and
threatened destruction.
In this choice of
dangers they resolved for the fields: a resolution which, while the rest of the company were hurried into by their fears, my uncle embraced upon cool and
deliberate consideration. They went out then, having pillows tied upon their
heads with napkins; and this was their whole defence against the storm of
stones that fell round them.”
-Pliny the Elder then
disembarks and starts to assist on land
“Meanwhile broad
flames shone out in several places from Mount Vesuvius, which the darkness of
the night contributed to render still brighter and clearer. Being at a
convenient distance from the houses, we stood still, in the midst of a most
dangerous and dreadful scene. The chariots, which we had ordered to be drawn
out, were so agitated backwards and forwards, though upon the most level
ground, that we could not keep them steady, even by supporting them with large
stones”.
-Pliny the Younger
“The sea seemed to
rollback upon itself, and to be driven from its banks by the convulsive motion
of the earth; it is certain at least the shore was considerably enlarged, and
several sea animals were left upon it. On the other side, a black and dreadful
cloud, broken with rapid, zigzag flashes, revealed behind it variously shaped
masses of flame: these last were like sheet-lightning, but much larger.”
-Pliny the Younger
Evening
Ash and pumice stones rain down on Pompeii. People are
trapped by blocked doors while ceilings and roofs collapse under the weight of
the debris.
Pompeii, being downwind from the volcano, was showered with
small volcanic stones.
“The ashes now began
to fall upon us, though in no great quantity. I looked back; a dense dark mist
seemed to be following us, spreading itself over the country like a cloud… We
had scarcely sat down when night came upon us, not such as we have when the sky
is cloudy, or when there is no moon, but that of a room when it is shut up, and
all the lights put out.”
-Pliny the Younger
The residents of the cities met death in different ways and
at different times but many of them shared the basic instinct, as they fled, to
take things with them that they believed were useful for survival.
The eruption reaches its peak and unleashes a hurricane of
heavier, denser pumice. This causes the widespread collapse of buildings and
destabilises the volcanic cloud, triggering the first deadly pyroclastic surge.
“You might hear the
shrieks of women, the screams of children, and the shouts of men; some calling
for their children, others for their parents, others for their husbands, and
seeking to recognise each other by the voices that replied; one lamenting his
own fate, another that of his family; some wishing to die, from the very fear
of dying; some lifting their hands to the gods, but the greater part convinced
that there were now no gods at all, and that the final endless night of which
we have heard had come upon the world.”
-Pliny the Younger
Midnight
The cloud reaches its maximum height of over 30km then
collapses spectacularly. A massive pyroclastic surge cascades down Vesuvius’s
north-west slopes. It heads for Herculaneum, Pompeii's smaller neighbouring city.
The massive pyroclastic surge headed towards Herculaneum with temperatures of
up to 400°C, Pompeii also experienced a pyroclastic surge of temperatures
around 300 c instantly killing everyone it touched. You must remember skin
blisters around 55-6 degrees Celsius.
The same heat that carbonised objects reduced people to
skeletons. The full force and high temperatures of impact would lead to broken
bones. But that’s nothing bodies were found showing signs of instant death
exposed to the impact where their bodies were burnt back to the bone within a
matter of seconds.
The bodies found so far in the cities account for only 10%
of their estimated populations. One-third of Pompeii and two-thirds of
Herculaneum is still unexcavated and it is possible that many bodies have yet
to be uncovered in and around the cities.
Early morning
As dawn breaks, the cloud collapses for the last time.
Between 06.00 and 08.00 huge pyroclastic surges pour onto Pompeii killing
everyone still there and smashing remaining buildings. The cloud collapses for
the last time and darkness spreads across the Bay of Naples.
“At last this dreadful
darkness was dissipated by degrees, like a cloud of smoke; the real day
returned, and even the sun shone out, though with a lurid light, like when an
eclipse is coming on. Every object that presented itself to our eyes (which
were extremely weakened) seemed changed, being covered deep with ashes as if
with snow.”
-Pliny the Younger
The eruption of Mount Vesuvius was disastrous, but what if
it erupted today?
Today two million people live in the immediate vicinity of
Mount Vesuvius. This mountain has erupted more than 50 times since the eruption
in 79 A.D., when it buried Pompeii and its sister city, Herculaneum. After
Pompeii was buried and lost to history, the volcano continued to erupt every
100 years until about 1037 A.D., when it entered a 600-year period of silence.
In 1631, the volcano killed an additional 4000 unsuspecting inhabitants. It was
during the restoration after this eruption that workers discovered the ruins of
Pompeii buried and forgotten for nearly 1600 years. It would take another 300
years for the excavations to reveal the story of Pompeii and Herculaneum.
Looking at historical eruptions like Mount Vesuvius and
others like Krakatoa really shows the damage caused by a volcano especially
when a nearby population has set up home.
Is this something we had learned from? Well no, not really, Mount
Vesuvius is still heavily populated if an eruption were to occur at Mount
Vesuvius many lives would be affected destroying the whole city of Naples and
probably cause chaos all over the world?
Just imagine how much worse would this be if it was the
supervolcanoes of Yellowstone or even Toba?
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