The eruption that buried a city
Throughout the course of the week, Mount Vesuvius had been spitting ash and leaking magma and lava - unknown to anyone that a big rock was blocking the crater of Mount Vesuvius causing further pressure build up inside the main vent or throat of the volcano. Not only were these unfamiliar incidents occurring but throughout the week counting down to the day of the eruption, earth tremors were also very frequent which according to the accounts of Pliny’s letters, the population of Pompeii were very uncertain about. The Population of Pompeii had never experienced such events before and therefore lacked the knowledge that these were the early stages of an eruption - Pliny’s letters also explained that many people thought that these were signs of the end of the world.
The last 24 hours
These accounts have been accumulated and summed up with all of the evidence left behind from the event such as the ash casts of people and, written records such as Pliny the younger’s letters. Because of how well the evidence has been preserved through being encased in the ash for such a long period, Pompeii has resulted in being one of the most complete and intact archaeological sites in the world which we can continue to uncover information about.
1pm The beginning of the eruption process begins causing minor earth quaking vibrations leading to house breakages. Also a light layer of falling ash first touched upon the town of Pompeii.
3pm Pompeii was almost completely saturated entirely in a thin layer of ash, the wind drove the angry ash cloud over the city bringing about darkness, and earth tremors intensified.
5pm Temperature of the ash causes fires and intense lightening, volcanic rock and pumice hurdling towards the city of Pompeii at 200km/ph deepened the crisis.
8pm The weight of the fallen pumice, rocks, and ash on the roofs of buildings created a new danger as the buildings were unable to withstand the weight and the conditions.
1am Full darkness came over the cities surrounding Mount Vesuvius, further ash and volcanic debris continued to fall
6am completely saturated with volcanic matter to its entirety, mass amounts of ash clouds covered the area, the eruption shortly occurred shooting ash and lava foam into the black sky reaching up to heights of 15km
By the end of the 25th of August, Pompeii and Vesuvius had changed forever, rivers were gone, landscape was changed, and Mount Vesuvius was left as a crater. The eruption lasted 24 vigorous hours, and by the end Pompeii and other towns in the radius of Mount Vesuvius such as Herculaneum were completely destructed and layered in tiers of pumice and ash volcanic matter. Approximately two-thousand people died that day, but the small towns were now dead also - wiped from the maps until 1748, when the first excavations began.
1pm The beginning of the eruption process begins causing minor earth quaking vibrations leading to house breakages. Also a light layer of falling ash first touched upon the town of Pompeii.
3pm Pompeii was almost completely saturated entirely in a thin layer of ash, the wind drove the angry ash cloud over the city bringing about darkness, and earth tremors intensified.
5pm Temperature of the ash causes fires and intense lightening, volcanic rock and pumice hurdling towards the city of Pompeii at 200km/ph deepened the crisis.
8pm The weight of the fallen pumice, rocks, and ash on the roofs of buildings created a new danger as the buildings were unable to withstand the weight and the conditions.
1am Full darkness came over the cities surrounding Mount Vesuvius, further ash and volcanic debris continued to fall
6am completely saturated with volcanic matter to its entirety, mass amounts of ash clouds covered the area, the eruption shortly occurred shooting ash and lava foam into the black sky reaching up to heights of 15km
By the end of the 25th of August, Pompeii and Vesuvius had changed forever, rivers were gone, landscape was changed, and Mount Vesuvius was left as a crater. The eruption lasted 24 vigorous hours, and by the end Pompeii and other towns in the radius of Mount Vesuvius such as Herculaneum were completely destructed and layered in tiers of pumice and ash volcanic matter. Approximately two-thousand people died that day, but the small towns were now dead also - wiped from the maps until 1748, when the first excavations began.