… a tremor shakes the ground under the town of Pompeii. Shortly afterwards Vesuvius erupts violently, sending plumes of smoke, ashes and glowing rocks high into the sky above. Cooled by the air and carried by the wind, fine ashes begins to fall over the town, soon to be followed by pyroclastic lapilli – heavy volcanic ashes – partially burying the town in a few short hours. But there was more to come from Vesuvius.
Pompeii in 79 was a thriving Roman town with paved streets and elegant villas situated near the shores of the Bay of Naples, only a few kilometres from the slopes of the slumbering volcano Vesuvius. The Pompeiians were used to earthquakes, perhaps to the extent that they ignored warnings of what was to come. In February in the year 62, a massive quakes caused extensive damage to the town’s buildings.