How Pompeii was destroyed Mt Vesuvius

Today you will learn about how the city of Pompeii in Italy was destroyed in 79 A.D.

Before we go to that part, I will tell you what the difference is between active, dormant and an extinct volcano. An active volcano is one that is currently erupting or showing signs of unrest like the Mt St Helens. A dormant volcano is a volcano that is not currently active, but geologist believe it can erupt at any time, like Mount Kea in Big Island, Hawaii or Mount Fuji in Japan which erupted last in 1707. Extinct volcano are the ones, which have not erupted in tens of thousands of years and not expected to erupt again like Mount Kenya, which erupted 20 million years ago.

Now we will jump into to the part of how Mt Vesuvius covered the city of Pompeii. The city of Pompeii was located in Italy. The city had 12,000 people living in the town. Pompeii had been built by the Greeks in the 740 B.C. The city even had villas, stadium and theaters.

Mt Vesuvius had erupted twice before, one in 1780 B.C and then in 63 A.D, when it destroyed every village and farm in 15 miles radius of the mountain. People were aware of the nature of the mountain and had learned to live with the fear.

2 days before the eruption in 79 A.D. the ground started to shake. On the day of the eruption, it was afternoon, and the weather was clear and sunny. Then a big rumble came from Mt Vesuvius. Then smoke started to come from the volcano and them boom big rocks started to fly from the volcano. The blast sent ashes, rocks and poisonous gases so high in the air, that people could see it from hundreds of miles around. The writer Pliny described the scene as a pine tree, with a trunk and then bushes which spread. Today geologist refer to it as a "Plinean eruption".

The ash came crashing down on buildings and hot lava started to come down. It destroyed everything in its path. The people were running. As building fell more rocks were flying. People had time to get out, but some decided to stay back. About 2,000 Pompeiians were dead, but eruption is said to have killed 16,000 people.

The city was not discovered until 1748, when researchers and scholars starting digging. They found the city intact, under a ruble of ash. Archaeologist even discovered uncovered jars of fruits and loaves of bread. The discovery of the town still continues to inspire modern architecture.