It seems that for Vesuvius, the amount of magma expelled in an eruption increases very roughly linearly with the interval since the previous one, and at a rate of around 0.001 cubic kilometres (0.00024 cu mi) for each year. The volcano is one of several which form the Campanian volcanic arc. This subduction zone stretches the length of the Italian peninsula, and is also the source of other volcanoes like Mount Etna , the Phlegraean Fields (Campi Flegrei), Vulcano, and Stromboli. The eruption lasted two days. The plan assumes between two weeks' and 20 days' notice of an eruption and foresees the emergency evacuation of 600,000 people, almost entirely comprising all those living in the zona rossa ("red zone"), i.e. The former was pushed beneath the latter, becoming pushed deeper into the Earth. On the western side the chestnut groves give way above 2,000 feet to undulating plateaus covered with broom, where the crater left by the great eruption of the year 79 ce has been filled in. It was at this time that Mount Vesuvius erupted during the Second World War, in March 1944. It broke through, forming the volcano. Mount Vesuvius. There are three types of volcanos; active, dormant, or extinct. Mount Vesuvius is a composite volcano. As well as producing Mt Etna, Vesuvius was also formed, but it is part of a different volcanic arc. As the ship was preparing to leave the area, a messenger came from his friend Rectina (wife of Tascius[57]) living on the coast near the foot of the volcano explaining that her party could only get away by sea and asking for rescue. After 1631 there was a change in the eruptive character of the volcano, and activity became continuous. Several surviving works written over the 200 years preceding the AD 79 eruption describe the mountain as having had a volcanic nature, although Pliny the Elder did not depict the mountain in this way in his Naturalis Historia:[36], In AD 79 Vesuvius erupted in one of the most catastrophic eruptions of all time. National Trust - Why is Mount Vesuvius so famous? Large Vesuvian eruptions which emit volcanic material in quantities of about 1 cubic kilometre (0.24 cu mi), the most recent of which overwhelmed Pompeii and Herculaneum, have happened after periods of inactivity of a few thousand years. [8], Vesuvius has erupted many times since, and is the only volcano on the European mainland to have erupted within the last hundred years. [12] The historian Diodorus Siculus relates a tradition that Hercules, in the performance of his labors, passed through the country of nearby Cumae on his way to Sicily and found there a place called "the Phlegraean Plain" (Φλεγραῖον πεδίον, "plain of fire"), "from a hill which anciently vomited out fire ... now called Vesuvius. People as far away as Misenum fled for their lives. What is located around Mt Etna? Test your knowledge of volcanoes with this quiz. When did Mount Vesuvius erupt? Since the eruption of AD 79, Vesuvius has erupted around three dozen times. For this reason, the volcano is also called Somma-Vesuvius or Somma-Vesuvio. Subsequently, the cloud collapsed as the gases expanded and lost their capability to support their solid contents, releasing it as a pyroclastic surge, which first reached Herculaneum but not Pompeii. First Letter; At that time [24 August AD 79] my uncle was at Misenum in command of the fleet. Finding a weak spot at the Earth's surface, it broke through, thus forming the volcano. A reservoir as wide as 3 kilometers of smoldering magma had formed beneath the volcano, held by a plug of old magma. These stages … Cores were dated by potassium–argon and argon–argon dating. Continued in his light ship to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have suggestions to this. Friends departed destroyed the nearby Roman cities of Pompeii, Herculaneum and Stabiae based on former! Raising false alarms of an eruption that destroyed Pompeii and Herculaneum lookout for your Britannica newsletter get... 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