Vesuvius volcano in the Gulf of Naples, Italy.
The reason is that Vesuvius' typical eruptions are very explosive and the slopes of the volcano and immediate area surrounding the volcano are extremely densely populated; even the city of Naples is only about 20 km away from the volcano. In case of a major Plinian eruption, more than 3 million people could be at risk and an incredible value of infrastructure. Vesuvius has been silent since 1944 now, and might remain so for quite a time to come, but it is quite certain that it will wake up again, sooner or later, but on a human timescale (decades to centuries, in contast to the so-called supervolcanoes). When it does wake up, it tends to start a new eruptive cycle with a large sub-plinian or plinian eruption.
In the past, every time Vesuvius erupted after a long interval, it has been highly destructive and killed thousands of people: a prehistoric eruption about 2000 BC devastating the present-day area of Naples, the famous Roman "Plinian" eruption of 79 destroying Pompeii and Herculaneum, and the even worse (in terms of damage) eruption of 1631 are worst-case examples of the type of eruption to expect when Vesuvius wakes up again.
The Italian government has plans to evacuate 600,000 people living in the immediate risk zone on the lower slopes of the volcano, in case a new eruption seems likely, but it is quite doubtful whether such plans are realistic or could be effective.Vesuvius has erupted many times since and is the only volcano on the European mainland to have erupted within the last hundred years. Today, it is regarded as one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world because of the population of 3,000,000 people living nearby and its tendency towards explosive eruptions. It is the most densely populated volcanic region in the world.
That eruption ejected a cloud of stones, ash and fumes to a height of 20.5 miles, spewing molten rock and pulverized pumice at the rate of 1.5 million tons per second, ultimately releasing a hundred thousand times the thermal energy released by the Hiroshima bombing. An estimated 16,000 people died due to hydrothermal pyroclastic flows. The only surviving eyewitness account of the event consists of two letters by Pliny the Younger to the historian Tacitus.
plate tectonics
Vesuvius is part of the Campanian volcanic arc, a line of volcanoes that formed over a subduction zone created by the convergence of the African and Eurasian plates. This subduction zone stretches the length of the Italian peninsula, and is also the source of other volcanoes like Mount Etna, the Phlegraean Fields (Campi Flegrei), Vulcano, and Stromboli. Under Vesuvius, the lower part of the subducting slab has torn and detached from the upper part to form what is called a "slab window". This makes Vesuvius' rocks slightly different chemically from the rocks erupted from the other Campanian volcanoes.
In the past, every time Vesuvius erupted after a long interval, it has been highly destructive and killed thousands of people: a prehistoric eruption about 2000 BC devastating the present-day area of Naples, the famous Roman "Plinian" eruption of 79 destroying Pompeii and Herculaneum, and the even worse (in terms of damage) eruption of 1631 are worst-case examples of the type of eruption to expect when Vesuvius wakes up again.
The Italian government has plans to evacuate 600,000 people living in the immediate risk zone on the lower slopes of the volcano, in case a new eruption seems likely, but it is quite doubtful whether such plans are realistic or could be effective.Vesuvius has erupted many times since and is the only volcano on the European mainland to have erupted within the last hundred years. Today, it is regarded as one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world because of the population of 3,000,000 people living nearby and its tendency towards explosive eruptions. It is the most densely populated volcanic region in the world.
That eruption ejected a cloud of stones, ash and fumes to a height of 20.5 miles, spewing molten rock and pulverized pumice at the rate of 1.5 million tons per second, ultimately releasing a hundred thousand times the thermal energy released by the Hiroshima bombing. An estimated 16,000 people died due to hydrothermal pyroclastic flows. The only surviving eyewitness account of the event consists of two letters by Pliny the Younger to the historian Tacitus.
plate tectonics
Vesuvius is part of the Campanian volcanic arc, a line of volcanoes that formed over a subduction zone created by the convergence of the African and Eurasian plates. This subduction zone stretches the length of the Italian peninsula, and is also the source of other volcanoes like Mount Etna, the Phlegraean Fields (Campi Flegrei), Vulcano, and Stromboli. Under Vesuvius, the lower part of the subducting slab has torn and detached from the upper part to form what is called a "slab window". This makes Vesuvius' rocks slightly different chemically from the rocks erupted from the other Campanian volcanoes.
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