Vesuvius. A name that still strikes fear into the heart.
A letter from the eruption of Pompeii 2000 years ago.

It was seven o’clock in the morning, and the light was still faint, like twilight. Then the buildings were shaken so hard that it was safer to go out into the open.

We immediately decided to leave the city; the frightened people followed us in droves, urging us on, pushing us; and, what in their fright takes the place of prudence: each one believes nothing safer than what they see others doing.

Once out of the city, we stopped; and there, new wonders, new fears. The carts we had brought along were so agitated that we couldn’t stabilize them even by supporting them with large stones.

The sea seemed to fall in on itself, as if driven from the shore by the shaking of the earth. The square had become immense and was filled with live and dead fish, lying dry on the sand.
At the opposite end of the spectrum, a black, horrific cloud, riddled with snaking fires, opened up and released long, lightning-like flares that were much larger…

The ash was beginning to fall on us, albeit in small quantities.

I turn my head and see thick smoke behind us, spreading over the land like a torrent. A glimmer of light appeared, announcing not the return of daylight, but the approach of the fire that threatened us.

Darkness returned, and the rain of ashes began again.
Stronger and thicker.

We were reduced to getting up from time to time to shake off our clothes. The thick, black vapor gradually dissipated and disappeared like smoke or clouds.
Just afterwards came the day, and the sun itself, yellowish though it was, and as it usually shines in an eclipse. Everything showed itself changed to our still troubled eyes; and we found nothing that was not hidden under heaps of ash, as under snow.”

This letter was written by Pliny the Younger, a senator and famous Roman lawyer, and gave his name to the explosive volcanic eruptions now known as Plinian eruptions.

In 2022, there is a 27% chance of an explosive eruption within the century, according to Francesco Russo, President of the Naples Order of Geologists.

The Naples conurbation surrounds the volcano.
15,000 people fell victim to the eruption in the 1st century, and today 600,000 people live under the threat of this spectacular and imposing presence, in what is known as the ‘red zone’.