What if vesuvius erupted

The eruption of Mount Vesuvius in A. In this guide, discover the history surrounding this famous volcano, as well as interesting Mount Vesuvius facts.

In the last 17, years, the volcano has had eight major eruptions. The eruption in A. Why is Mount Vesuvius famous? Though the A. Ironically, the thing that led to the death of so many is what keeps their stories alive today. Mount Vesuvius formed due to the collision of the Eurasian and African tectonic plates, roughly around 25, years ago. Though several eruptions occurred prior to A.

Much of the destruction has not even been repaired, come the 79 eruption. The events of the 79 eruption are famously recounted by Pliny the Younger in two letters written to another historian named Tacitus. Pier Paolo Petrone, a scientist from the Federico II University Hospital in Naples, Italy, discovered the presence of a red and black residue in the remains of the victims' skeletons.

This indicated high concentrations of iron, specifically from boiling blood. The steam coming off of the boiling blood was enough to fracture bones and put intense pressure on victims' skulls. As horrific as this process sounds, it likely happened in an instant and was a relatively painless end. Those located farther from the eruption would be in danger of asphyxiation.

If Mount Vesuvius erupted to its full potential, the destruction wouldn't be limited to the clusters of towns and villages near the cone. It could potentially take out Naples itself, the third-largest city in Italy and one of the most densely populated areas in Western Europe.

The damage wouldn't just be cosmetic either. If historical eruptions are anything to go by, Naples could be entirely leveled. Pumice is a volcanic rock made of magma that solidifies as it shoots through the air.

If Vesuvius erupted, so much pumice and debris could be ejected into the air that the fiery rain of stones would bury Naples - as well as dozens upon dozens of other villages and towns nearby. When the Avellino eruption occurred at Vesuvius in the 2nd millennium BCE, stones rained down as far as nine miles from the mouth of the volcano.

Scientists believe a full meter of hot ash and pumice blanketed the area where Naples sits today - only six miles away.

Ash spread thousands of square miles north of the volcano and possibly led to harsh weather conditions that persisted for hundreds of years. If Vesuvius were to blow in a big way, it would likely be accompanied by a plume of fiery ash and gases billowing into the sky.

When the Avellino eruption occurred, it shot a column of smoke and chemicals into the air in a mile-high plume that rained down for weeks. To visualize the size of such a plume, first imagine the Statue of Liberty, which is feet tall. You'd have to stack Lady Liberties on top of one another to nearly match its height. Mount Vesuvius towers over the Campania region of Italy like a fearful specter.

Nearly 6 million people live in the region, with half of them in and around Naples. Even in the event of a less-than-apocalyptic eruption, all of those residents would be more or less cut off from every conceivable modern service.

A major eruption of Vesuvius "has the potential to become the worst disaster in modern times," according to seismologist Giulio Zuccaro. The damage to the power, water, and gas infrastructure from the eruption and its preceding earthquakes could leave residents without any municipal services. Furthermore, the rumbling from an eruption could severely damage roads and bridges, preventing evacuation and transportation.

If an eruption at the outermost range of Mount Vesuvius's destructive capacity took place, the cities within the blast zone would likely be leveled entirely within the first 15 minutes. The build-up of magma would put enormous pressure on the chambers below the earth, not just in the cone itself, and a sudden release could potentially collapse the mouth and create a caldera, which is a wide depression, or massive volcanic crater. Everything within the new caldera would be annihilated.

If Vesuvius produced an ash plume similar to the one created by its Avellino eruption 3, years ago, it would have an enormous impact on travel to and from Italy and its neighboring countries, not to mention tourism. Thousands of flights destined for Europe were canceled, leaving travelers stranded and vacations ruined. The disruption to the global economy would be unprecedented. For that reason, the Vesuvius Observatory monitors seismic activity, gas emissions and other indicators 24 hours a day to know at the earliest point when it may blow.

Considered one of the world's most dangerous, it is also the only active volcano on Europe's mainland. Nevertheless, , people live in the 18 towns at its base that comprise the "red zone. Directly in the line of fire, the 9-mile kilometer radius of people stand little chance of survival when Vesuvius explodes again.

Experts warn that emergency plans should also include nearby Naples since an explosion could send dangerous burning ash and pumice as far as 12 miles 20 kilometers [source: Fraser ]. The last time Vesuvius activated was in , causing minor damage and killing 26 people. New research has shown that the mountain probably will not act as kindly next time.

For starters, Mount Vesuvius sits on top of a layer of magma deep in the earth that measures square miles square kilometers [source: Noble ].

That's a lot of magma -- Kilaeua Volcano is probably the most active volcano in the world, with 34 eruptions since [source : U. Geological Survey ], but compared to Vesuvius, which has erupted around 30 times since 79 A.

Topping it off, scientists expect that the next eruption will be an incredibly forceful explosion, termed plinean , marked by flying rock and ash at speeds of up to almost miles per hour kph. To summarize, if Mount Vesuvius erupts today, it wouldn't be a pretty picture. Given its potential, Vesuvius could endanger more than 3 million people and wipe out the city of Naples [source: Than ].

Next, we'll learn what happened to Pompeii and Herculaneum that gave Vesuvius its notable reputation. Nineteen hours later, the two wealthy Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum were almost erased from history. Signs of the incoming blast included a minor earthquake and underground water sources running out a few days prior [source: Stewart ].

A plume of smoke rocketed 20 miles 32 kilometers into the air from Vesuvius' opening, spewing forth its blisteringly hot contents. The only eyewitness to account the eruption, Pliny the Younger, compared the smoke shooting up from Mount Vesuvius to a pine tree. Soon, the city was engulfed in smoke and noxious gasses from the mountain. Although most people escaped Pompeii, at least 2, who stayed behind were crushed or buried alive in the ash and rock that rained from the sky that day.

On the other side of the mountain at the Bay of Naples, the seismic storm travelled to Herculaneum. In addition to clouds of ash and rock came a heat wave of almost degrees Fahrenheit degrees Celsius [source: Lorenzi ].