Pompeii is hit by earthquakes after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius: scientists

We are shocked.

Earthquake activity as damaging as the eruption of Mount Vesuvius bears some of the blame for the total destruction of the ancient Roman city of Pompeii in AD 79, a new study suggests.

The significant seismic upheaval—which is consistent with the found and descriptive writings of the shaken terrain by the Roman high-ranking Pliny the Younger—”played an important role in the destruction of Pompeii and, perhaps, influenced the choices of the Pompeians who faced an inevitable death”. said the author of the study Dr. Domenico Sparise.

The surprising new findings were published in the journal Frontiers in Earth Science.

Earthquakes and volcanic eruptions usually occur together. Sometimes seismic activity can even trigger a volcano ready to erupt, according to the US Geological Survey.

“A precise understanding of the cause-and-effect relationship is essential to reconstruct the interaction between volcanic and seismic phenomena, and their effects on buildings and people,” said author Dr. Fabrizio Galadini.

The main elements were pointing towards the impact of the earthquake around the collapsed buildings inside the Casa dei Pittori al Lavoro, where two skeletons were found with fractures and trauma injuries.

“We found particular features that were not consistent with the effects of volcanic phenomena described in the volcanological literature devoted to Pompeii,” said author Dr. Mauro Di Vito of the area.

“There had to be another explanation.”

Running for cover

Vesuvius had been sending flying pumice of small rocks and ash for about 18 hours, prompting residents to seek shelter from the burning rock. The study supports the idea that strong earthquakes were responsible for killing people who were prevented from shooting in the sky.

“People who did not leave their shelters were probably overwhelmed by the collapse of already overloaded buildings caused by the earthquake. This was the fate of the two individuals we recovered”, said the author Dr Valeria Amoretti.

The two recently discovered remains were of two male skeletons, each about 50 years old.

Their positions mean one man was crushed by a large part of the wall – while the other tried to escape from the dust. Experts believe he used some kind of wooden object and sensed the danger of being hit.

The recovery also strongly rules out the possibility that they died from extreme heat or inhalation of ash from the so-called “first stage” explosion.

“New insight into the destruction of Pompeii brings us very close to the experience of the people who lived here 2,000 years ago,” said author Dr. Gabriel Zuchtriegel.

“The choices they made, as well as the dynamics of events, which remain a focus of our research, decided life and death in the last hours of the city’s existence.”