Ancient - Effects of the eruption (4 marks)

[Chadi]

Compare the effects of the eruption of AD 79 on the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum (4 marks)

The first stages of the eruption devastated Pompeii but hardly impacted Herculaneum. Pompeii was rained upon with pumice stone for 3 hours, the stones collected on the top of roofs causing them collapse, leading to 600 deaths. Large rocks expelled from the volcano led to crush injuries. The excess of ash in the air lead to many asphyxiation  caused deaths. Following pyroclastic inflicted fulminant shock, killing many people. The 4th surge reached up to 300 degrees celsius. In Herculaneum, the collapse of a column caused a pyroclastic surge that ripped through the city at 300km/h reaching between 300-500 degrees celsius. This surge dumped 3 meters of ash on the town. After this, 5 more surges followed with intense heat that carbonised wood, this dumped 23 meters of ash on the town. Even if people survived the heat (which is impossible) they would have suffocated under the ash. Pliny the Younger described the eruption as ‘an umbrella, for it rose to a great height on a sort of trunk then split off into branches’. He recounted the devastation as ‘you could hear the shrieks of omen, the wailing of infants and the shouting of men’.