Every year thousands of people travel to the small Roman city of Pompeii. Pompeii has become known for its historical architecture, sculptures and its breathtaking views. This ancient city in Rome, grapples the imagination. Due to an active volcano explosion that consumed this small city, it has essentially become a time capsule. Although it has been considered one of the most catastrophic volcanic eruptions in history, it has helped us understand and take a look at what everyday life was like so long ago.
Today, Pompeii is considered one of the most well preserved cities after a natural disaster. Although prior to the famous eruption that engulfed the city, Pompeii was considered just another small town that people would casually pass through when travelling. If any tourists decided to stay there for the night, it most likely had to do with the beach front at Herculaneum. Others would hope to casually run into Emperor Caligula, as he owned a luxury villa in the city of Pompeii. The residents of Pompeii were normal, regular people. Pompeii consisted of a mixture of residents who were wealthy, business professionals and slaves. Writing tables that have been discovered from Herculaneum, indicate that over half of its population were either slaves or considered free slaves. (Focus Magazine)
Physical Process
The Campanian Volcanic Arc is an area that is made up of many active and inactive volcanoes. All of these volcanoes are located in the Campania region of Italy. This famous volcanic arc centers on the bay of Naples. The volcanic arc consists of: Mount Vesuvius, Phlegreaen Fields, Solfatara, Mount Epomeo, Palinuro, Vavilev, Marsili, and lastly Magnaghi. (Revolvy.com)
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The Campanian Volcanic Arc are all volcanoes that are part of the same subduction zone. This subduction zone has been created by the Eurasian and African tectonic plates where the African plate has been subducted underneath the Eurasian plate. Mount Vesuvius is considered a complex stratovolcano. The reason it is considered a complex stratovolcano is because the eruptions revolving around Mount Vesuvius are extremely explosive and involve pyroclastic flows. According to Live Science “A pyroclastic flow is a high-density mix of hot lava blocks, pumice, ash and volcanic gas.”
Currently under Mount Vesuvius scientists have been able to detect a tear in the African plate. This is considered to be a “slab window”. This slab window “allows heat from the Earth’s mantle layer to melt the rock of the African plate building up pressure that causes violent explosive eruptions.” For quite some time, Mount Vesuvius went through a 20 year eruption patter, but the most recent eruption was recorded in 1944. (Live Science)
Pompeii
The famous explosion of Mount Vesuvius, was not the first natural disaster that Pompeii had to endure. In 62 A.D. Pompeii was struck by a major earthquake that essentially destroyed the city. The earthquake had originated beneath Mount Vesuvius, and it had caused major damage to the cities springs and piping that provided the city with the major water supply. Mount Vesuvius was considered an extremely active volcano. In fact, seismic activity was extremely common in the area to the point where residents did not think too much when small earthquakes would happen. On August 24th, the first explosion took place in Pompeii leaving approximately 2,000 residents who survived the first blast. (Live Science)
Pliny the Elder was a Roman author who documented the Pompeii explosion. Pliny described the explosion as “It resembled a (Mediterranean) pine more than any other tree. Like a very high tree the could went high and expanded in differed branches… sometimes white, sometimes dark and stained by the sustained sand and ashes.” The first Pompeii explosion was documented at about 12:00 p.m., by 1:00 p.m. there was enough ash in the sky that it had completely covered the sun. Approximately six inches of ash fell per hour.
The following day, at about 6:30 a.m., volcanic gases and debris engulfed the city of Pompeii leaving everything covered in ash. Most residents of Pompeii had died instantly due to the superheated air that was ingested, burning their lungs and contracting their muscles. Because residents had inhaled this ash so quickly, most died instantly. In the contraction of muscles, this left residents in a curled up, statue like position. This has been one of the most intriguing historical pieces of the remaining city of Pompeii. (Live Science)
Figure 1.2 This image reflects what the remains located in the city of Pompeii look today. Due to pyroclastic flows and volcanic ash, bodies were perfectly preserved in this manner due to the ash. (image courtesy of “Mount Vesuvius – Italy” Ball, Jessica)
Damage and Loss of Life
Pompeii is considered one of the most preserved cities after a natural disaster in history. Pompeii remained untouched for approximately 2,000 years. A group of explorers were searching for ancient artifacts when they came across Campania and discovered Pompeii. The first excavation of the city of Pompeii, led to a discovery of approximately 1,150 people in Pompeii, while also finding approximately 400 in Herculaneum. For the most part historians believed that most people had escaped the city during the smaller earthquakes that struck the city earlier that day.
In 1982 excavations of the seafront revealed that approximately 300 people had fled to vaulted chambers, most historians believed that people fled to the harbor in hoping that someone would come to their rescue. The city of Pompeii was not the only city affected by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. The city of Herculaneum, was located on the other side of Mount Vesuvius.
Luckily, Herculaneum did not as much volcanic ash compared to Pompeii. In comparison, Herculaneum did not get as much pumice fall, and they also received minimal deposit. After the first eruption of Mount Vesuvius, a cloud composed of volcanic ash, reached a height of approximately 20 miles. The volcanic ash was so heavy it eventually collapsed over itself. As the volcanic ash crashed under its own weight, a pyroclastic surge and flow rushed down the mountain. The temperature of the pyroclastic surge was so extreme, anyone who came across the surge burned. (Auld, Tim)
Figure 1.3 This image reflects how the city of Pompeii currently looks. Columns located in the city of Pompeii are currently still standing. (image courtesy of “Mount Vesuvius – Italy” Ball, Jessica)
Mitigation Strategies
During the eruption of Pompeii, volcanic activity detection was essentially non-existent. At the time, there was very little knowledge concerning volcanic activity, detecting potential risks, and there were no real mitigation strategies in place for natural disasters. Luckily, today we have the technology, resources, and knowledge when it comes to detecting any future eruptions.
In 2016, a new emergency plan was put in place, as the population surrounding Mount Vesuvius has exponentially expanded. Currently the Italian Department of Civil Protection from the southern Campania region has put in place an emergency plan to evacuate approximately 700,000 people. This emergency plan covers 25 surrounding towns. Regional president Vincenzo De Luca made a statement to the Italian Press “We have to equip ourselves to be prepared,” “Mount Vesuvius is a problem of giant proportions.” Although this new plan has expanded to accommodate 550,000 residents in 18 different towns to 672,000 in 25 towns, De Luca stated “We have no particular problems right now, but it is our duty to be prepared.
Either you can pretend not to see challenges, or you can face them head on – even the most difficult.” Currently, the newly proposed emergency plan strategizes to evacuate residents safely within 72 hours. 12 hours are planned for organization, 48 hours are planned for evacuating residents, and an extra 12 hours have been put in place as a “security margin”. This plan also covers transportation. If this plan were to be put in action, 500 busses and 220 trains will be available to evacuate residents. Within this newly proposed evacuation plan De Luca proposed “extra funding for the regional towns to aid infrastructure and spread awareness of the evacuation methods.” (Pasha-Robinson, Lucy)
Today, Pompeii is considered one of the best preserved natural disasters in history. Although it is considered as one of the most catastrophic natural disasters in history, it has also allowed us to get a glimpse into what everyday life was like in this time. At the time, Pompeii did not have the proper knowledge or resources to handle such a catastrophic event. Luckily, today we have certain technology and resources available to hopefully better control such a catastrophic event. It is inevitable that Mount Vesuvius will one day erupt, as it is still considered an active volcano. The Department of Civil Protection has come up with a plan that will hopefully avoid the loss of lives due to such a catastrophic event.
Works Cited
- Auld, Tim. “Pompeii Exhibition: the Eruption of the Volcano.” The Telegraph, Telegraph Media Group, 3 Mar. 2013, www.telegraph.co.uk/history/pompeii/9850103/Pompeii-exhibition-the-eruption-of-the-volcano.html.
- Bagley, Mary. “Mount Vesuvius & Pompeii: Facts & History.” LiveScience, LiveScience , 19 Dec. 2017, www.livescience.com/27871-mount-vesuvius-pompeii.html.
- Ball, Jessica. “Mount Vesuvius – Italy.” Mount Vesuvius – Italy, geology.com/volcanoes/vesuvius/.
- Pasha-Robinson @lucypasha, Lucy. “The Most Famous Volcano in the World Could Erupt at Any Time.” The Independent, Independent Digital News and Media, 14 Oct. 2016, www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/mount-vesuvius-emergency-evacuation-eruption-plans-finalised-a7360686.html.
- “Pompeii: Past, Present and Future.” Science Focus – BBC Focus Magazine, 14 Mar. 2013, www.sciencefocus.com/science/pompeii-past-present-and-future/.
- Revolvy, LLC. “‘Campanian Volcanic Arc’ on Revolvy.com.” Campanian Volcanic Arc, www.revolvy.com/page/Campanian-volcanic-arc.
