One of the world's most well known volcanoes is located just to the east of the city of
Naples. I am referring to Mount Vesuvius, which has produced a number of spectacularly large
volcanic eruptions. However, this volcano is far from dormant, at its last eruption
took place in 1944. As a result, it is only a matter of time before Vesuvius erupts again.
This video will discuss this active volcano, and mention what its future hazards are.
Mount Vesuvius is a towering stratovolcano which can be seen from any point in Naples.
Just like the Campi Flegrei supervolcano to the southwest, Mount Vesuvius owes it existence to
plate subduction. A portion of the ancient African plate is being subducted underneath
the less dense Eurasian plate along the east coast of Italy. The subducted crust from this
collision then melts and migrates upwards until it erupts on the surface, creating a volcano.
Mount Vesuvius is built on a much older volcano, known as Mount Somma. Mount Somma began forming
25,000 years ago, and over its geologic history grew to become a tall stratovolcano. The volcano
then suffered a catastrophic caldera collapse 18,000 years ago, which formed a very prominent
caldera rim to the north of Modern Vesuvius. Mount Vesuvius began forming after this major eruption,
and grew from the caldera of Mount Somma. Over the next several thousand years,
Vesuvius experienced a number of small to medium sized eruptions which added to the
height of the volcano. Its first major eruption occurred 16,000 years ago, when a large eruption
produced 1.3 cubic kilometers of ash and tephra. For the next 7,000 years, not much
volcanic activity occurred at Mount Vesuvius. This changed when the largest eruption of modern
Vesuvius occurred in 6940 BC, in what is known as the Mercato eruption. After this eruption,
the volcano became relatively quiet once again for several thousand years.
The next major eruption occurred during the Bronze Age of Europe. This eruption in 2420
BC caused people who lived near the volcano to flee on foot. The remnants of this panic have been
preserved in a series of thousands of footprints. Over the next 2100 years, at least 5 additional
eruptions took place which were 1 to 2 orders of magnitude smaller
than the aforementioned major eruptions. By the time of the early Roman Empire,
the area around Vesuvius was settled by more than 20,000 citizens. The majority of this population
lived in or around the thriving cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum. On October 20th, 79 AD,
a warning of events to come was signaled through a series of earthquakes from the mountain. Over the
next several days, these earthquakes became more numerous and larger in magnitude. The volcano then
violently erupted at 1:00 PM on October 24th, and spewed a high altitude column of ash and tephra.
A thick layer of ash began falling on several nearby cities, causing mass panic. As people fled,
pyroclastic flows raced down the mountain, and buried many people alive. Today, the aftermath of
this eruption, rated as a 5 on the 0 to 8 volcanic explosivity index can be seen at Pompeii. Casts
were poured into layers of ash to reveal the final moments of citizens during this eruption.
The last major eruption from Vesuvius occurred from 1631 to 1632, when numerous settlements
were buried under lava and ash. Since then, more than two dozen other eruptions have taken place.
One eruption in 1779 was reported to produce a 4 kilometer high fountain of lava.
The last eruption of Vesuvius ended in 1944, during world war 2. Numerous
photos exist of this eruption exist, which I have colorized using artificial intelligence.
Although it has not erupted since, frequent low magnitude earthquakes are detected beneath the
volcano which signal that it is still active. Due to the amount of scientific instruments
placed around the mountain, we should have at least 2 weeks notice before the next eruption.
Although technically possible, the next eruption should not be similar in size to
the one which destroyed Pompeii. Rather, it should be two orders of magnitude smaller.
Such an eruption would produce a towering ash column, and throw fountains of lava a
kilometer or more into the air. If this was to occur, any area within 12 kilometers of
the summit would be at risk of pyroclastic flows and would need to evacuate. In the next 100 years,
the chance of another explosive eruption is 27%. I hope that you enjoyed this video.
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