New Research Uncovers Hidden Role of Earthquakes in Pompeii’s Demise

New research shows earthquakes significantly contributed to Pompeii’s devastation during Vesuvius’s 79CE eruption.

Nearly 2,000 years ago, Pliny the Younger wrote letters describing a shaking ground as Vesuvius erupted. Now, researchers from the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV) and Pompeii Archaeological Park have provided new insights into the effects of seismicity associated with the 79CE eruption.

The research, recently published in Frontiers in Earth Science, is the first to investigate the effects of co-occurring earthquakes during the eruption. This is a difficult task since volcanic and seismic effects may happen concurrently or in quick succession, where one can obscure the effects of the other.