Top 12 interesting facts about Mount Vesuvius

Originally, there was Monte Somma, an old volcano that had seen better days. Vesuvius sprang up on top of Monte Somma, growing out of its predecessor’s caldera. Who knew even volcanoes could compete for power?

Mount Vesuvius, with a history extending back thousands of years before human contact, has been the subject of extensive scientific research. By examining ancient rock debris on the volcano, scientists have confirmed that it is around 300,000 to 400,000 years old. That’s definitely older than the last Ice Age!

Over the past 17,000 years, Mount Vesuvius has experienced eight major eruptions, each contributing to its complex history. To add to that, Mount Vesuvius likely holds the record for the longest historical account of volcanic eruptions in the world.

For nearly 1,800 years, Mount Vesuvius was quiet, stable and dormant, giving no reason to worry. As a result, there was no time to react, as the volcano erupted and lava flowed at speeds exceeding 80 mph. Since then though, Vesuvius has erupted numerous times. The eruption in 472, for example, is said to have spewed ash that reached as far as present-day Istanbul.

During the eruption of 79 AD, Mount Vesuvius released an astonishing 1.5 million tons of debris every second. To put that into perspective, it’s as if 250,000 fully grown elephants were raining down every single second. In fact, the ash from the eruption became so dense that it plunged people into complete darkness.

Stretching over more than 24 hours, the prolonged duration was due to the complex dynamics of the eruption, which involved a series of explosive bursts and pyroclastic flows. Much of our understanding of the eruption’s duration comes from the account of Pliny the Younger, who was staying to the west along the Bay of Naples when Vesuvius erupted.

The severity of the 512 Vesuvius eruption was such that Theodoric the Great, Ostrogoth king of Italy, granted a tax exemption to those living on the fertile slopes of Vesuvius. The 512 eruption is described in detail by Cassiodorus, a quaestor of King Theodoric, in a letter requesting tax exemption for the populations affected by the eruption.

Now that sounds quite fancy, doesn’t it? A stratovolcano is a big, steep volcano that builds up from layers of lava, ash, and rocks. It often has big, explosive eruptions because the lava is thick and sticky. Vesuvius, too, is a stratovolcano, formed by layers of ash and lava from many eruptions over time. Another example of a stratovolcano is Mount Fuji.