The eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD is one of the most famous and deadly natural disasters in history.
But the raging volcano extinguished thousands of lives in Pompeii in just 15 minutes, according to a new study.
Most of the victims died of asphyxiation by the giant cloud of volcanic ash and gases that the eruption released.
The researchers believe that most would have survived if the lethal plumes, known as pyroclastic flows, had only lasted a few minutes – but their modeling suggests that the city has been engulfed for nearly 20 minutes.
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Herculano’s proximity to Vesuvius meant that the residents had no hope. But the researchers believe that the inhabitants of Pompeii, which was miles away, could have survived if the toxic cloud of volcanic ash and gases from the eruption had lasted less.
In the first century, Pompeii was a thriving industrial center with luxurious private villas.
The eruption of Vesuvius on October 24, 79 AD, however, buried Pompeii and the neighboring cities of Oplontis, Stabiae and Herculaneum under ash, mud and fragments of rock.
It is estimated that at least 2,000 people lost their lives after the eruption.
Some were killed by rain of pumice and volcanic rock known as lapilli, others may have been trampled in frantic panic.
The speed and timing of the pyroclastic flow meant that most people in Pompeii were asphyxiated in their beds or when they huddled in their homes for safety. In the photo: calcined corpse in Pompeii,
In 79 AD, Pompeii was submerged under pyroclastic flows of scalding gas and volcanic ash from the eruption of Vesuvius – as depicted in John Martin’s 1821 work “Destruction of Pompeii and Herculaneum”, depicted
The speed and timing of the pyroclastic flow meant that most people in Pompeii were asphyxiated in their beds or when they huddled in their homes for safety.
But most died of suffocation from the pyroclastic flow, a dense collection of carbon dioxide and volcanic ash that flows down the side of an erupting volcano.
Clouds are more dangerous to humans than lava because they travel faster – up to 450 mph – and can reach temperatures of 1,800 ° F.
According to previous researchers, the first pyroclastic outbreaks begin at midnight and would have made the six-mile journey from Vesuvius to Pompeii in a few minutes, involving the city at almost the same speed.
Working with colleagues at the University of Bari and the British Geological Survey of Edinburgh, Roberto Isaia, a senior researcher at the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology in Rome, developed a model to quantify the effect of pyroclastic flows on inhabitants.
It is estimated that at least 2,000 people lost their lives as a result of the eruption
In Herculaneum, at the foot of the volcano, the temperature and force of the pyroclastic flow were so high ‘that survival was impossible’, the researchers wrote in a new study published in the journal Scientific Reports.
Pompeii was further away, so survival would be possible if the flow lasted only a few minutes or less.
However, according to its model, the cloud engulfed the city for approximately 17 minutes, ‘long enough to make the breath of the ash suspended in the current lethal’.
“We concluded that in distal areas where the mechanical and thermal effects of currents of pyroclastic density are diminished, the duration of the flow is the key to survival,” they wrote.
The speed and time of the cloud meant that most people were asphyxiated in their beds or when they huddled in their homes for safety.
Pliny the Younger described a column of smoke “like a pine tree” rising from Vesuvius and making nearby cities as black as night. Archaeologists discover the ancient Roman SNACK BAR in Pompeii. On the photo: Roman ruins in Pompeii
“Those 15 minutes inside that hellish cloud must have been endless,” Isaia told The Guardian. “The inhabitants could not imagine what was happening. The Pompeians lived with earthquakes, but not with eruptions, so they were taken by surprise and carried away by that incandescent cloud of ash.
In contemporary letters describing the disaster from a distance, Roman author Pliny the Younger said that a column of smoke “like a pine tree” rose from Vesuvius, making the surrounding cities black as night, although the eruption began. at 13h.
In two days, the volcano released more than 100,000 times the thermal energy from atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
It also unleashed an avalanche of hot ash, rock and poison gas that descended the side of the volcano at speeds of over 160 km / h, burying residents, cattle, buildings and all the remains of life in up to 30 feet of ash and debris.
The city remained hidden for almost 1700 years until Pompeii was rediscovered by Spanish military engineers in the mid-18th century.
Today, the ruins of Pompeii are a popular tourist attraction, attracting one million visitors a year.
According to modeling by researchers, the city was enveloped by the pyroclastic flow for 17 minutes, ‘long enough to make the breath of the ash suspended in the current lethal’. In the photo: a view of the archaeological site of Pompeii
Located on the west coast of Italy, Vesuvius is the only active volcano in continental Europe.
Contrary to popular belief, the eruption that engulfed Pompeii did not kill all the inhabitants.
Today, the ruins of Pompeii are a popular tourist attraction, attracting one million visitors a year. Located on the west coast of Italy, Vesuvius is the only active volcano in continental Europe
It is estimated that about 2,000 people died in Pompeii and Herculaneum, but the cities had a population of almost 20,000.
According to a 2019 report in the magazine Analecta Romana, survivors have resettled in other communities along the southern coast of Italy, and many have actually married other survivors.
Centuries after their rediscovery, archaeologists continue to make new discoveries: in December, the head of Pompeii Archaeological Park, Massimo Osanna, announced the discovery of a thermopoly, an ancient Roman version of a fast-food restaurant.
Murals of ducks, roosters and other animals suggest what was on the menu of the cafeteria, as well as remains of goats, pigs, fish and snails.
‘We know what they were eating’ when Visuvious broke out, said Osanna.
WHAT HAPPENED TO POMPEII?
Monte Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD, burying Pompeii, Oplontis and Stabiae under ashes and rock fragments, and the seaside town of Herculano under a stream of mud.
Pompeii was hit with 1000 ° F pyroclastic flows, dense collection of hot gas and volcanic materials that flow along the side of a volcano erupting at high speed.
They are more dangerous than lava because they travel faster, at speeds of around 450 mph.
Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD, burying Pompeii, Oplontis and Stabiae under ash and rocks and Herculaneum under a stream of mud
People ran to save their lives with torches, screaming and some crying as the rain of ash and pumice fell for several hours.
While the eruption lasted about 24 hours, the first pyroclastic waves started at midnight, causing the volcano’s column to collapse.
An avalanche of hot ash, rock and poisonous gas descended the side of the volcano at more than 100 mph, burying victims and remnants of everyday life.
Hundreds of refugees sheltered in Herculano’s vaulted arcades, holding their jewelry and money, died instantly.
The Orto dei fuggiaschi (The Garden of the Fugitives) shows 13 bodies of victims buried by ashes while trying to escape from Pompeii
As people fled or hid in their homes, their bodies were covered by the wave’s blankets.
It is estimated that about 2,000 people died in Pompeii and Herculaneum alone.
What did they find?
This event ended life in the cities, but preserved them until their rediscovery by archaeologists almost 1700 years later.
The excavation of Pompeii, the industrial center of the region, and of Herculano, a small beach resort, provided an incomparable view of Roman life.
Archaeologists are continually discovering more of the ash-covered city.
In recent years, they have discovered an alley of large houses, with balconies practically intact and still in their original tones.
Plaster cast of a dog, from the House of Orpheus, in Pompeii, 79 AD. About 30,000 people are believed to have died in chaos, with bodies still being discovered today
Some of the balconies even had amphorae – the tapered terracotta vases that were used to store wine and oil in ancient Roman times.