Eruption of Vesuvius Buries Pompeii and Herculaneum

Mount Vesuvius erupted in a sustained Plinian explosion, ejecting a column of pumice and volcanic gas over 30 kilometers high. Over approximately 18 hours, Pompeii was buried under 4-6 meters of ash and lapilli while pyroclastic surges destroyed nearby Herculaneum. Pliny the Younger, observing from Misenum across the Bay of Naples, recorded the event in two letters to historian Tacitus, providing the earliest detailed eyewitness account of a volcanic eruption. His uncle Pliny the Elder died during a rescue attempt by ship.