Human consequences
Residents who had not fled are killed within minutes by the pyroclastic flows. The towns are never rebuilt and survivors resettle in Naples or Cumae.
Home › All disasters › Eruption of Mount Vesuvius
VolcanoEruption of Mount Vesuvius
2,000Deaths
Not quantifiedDisplaced / homeless
Not quantifiedEstimated cost
- Low estimate: about 1,150 bodies found in Pompeii and over 300 in Herculaneum; the real toll remains unknown.
Vesuvius sends up an eruption column more than 30 km high, then pyroclastic flows bury Pompeii, Herculaneum, Stabiae and Oplontis. Pliny the Younger leaves the first detailed eyewitness account of an eruption; his uncle, Pliny the Elder, dies attempting a rescue by sea.
Consequences
Environmental consequences
The Campanian countryside is buried under several metres of ash and pumice; the coastline moves seaward and the course of the Sarno river shifts.
Economic consequences
Busy ports and some of the most fertile vineyards of the Empire are lost.
Political consequences
Emperor Titus sends commissioners and funds for the survivors. Rediscovered in the 18th century, the site gave birth to modern archaeology.
Further reading
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- Armero tragedyVolcano · Colombia1985
In the rankings : The deadliest volcanic eruptions No. 6
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