August 24, 79 Earthquake: Naples (Napoli), Italy

79 A.D., August 24 (23), 07h. Tyrrhenian Sea, Bay of Naples. Earthquake 40.48 N, 14.27 E, intensity XI, tsunami intensity iv, event validity 3. The next day after the powerful eruption of the volcano of Vesuvius that completely covered with ashes the cities of Pompei, Herculaneum, Stabiae. A strong earthquake occurred with its focus, possibly, in the Bay of Naples. "It seemed that all houses did not shake, but fell down". Variations in the sea level arose. An eyewitness of the events, the well-known Roman writer Pliny the Younger, wrote the following in a letter to the historian Tacitus concerning these events: "...we saw the sea retreating; it was as if the earth, shuddering, was pushing it away; the coast could be clearly seen to move forward; many sea animals got stuck on the dry sand". In another letter to Tacitus, Pliny mentioned that "...the sea was violent and hostile". Excavations in Pompei allow the hypothesis that many citizens who ran to the sea coast, when escaping from the ashfall, were flooded by the arriving wave, carried by it up inland and buried under red-hot lava. (reference #2130).

79 A.D. At night. Misenum and the country round. The sea receded from the coast. The houses trembled; followed the day after by the eruption of Vesuvius, in which Herculaneum and Pompeii were destroyed. (reference #521)

79 A.D. November 23-24. 40 deg 48 min N 14 deg 27 min E, intensity X. (reference #1075)

79 A.D. November 23. italy (Campania), associated with the great eruption of Vesuvius which buried Pompeii. Intensity I which corresponds to an earthquake of intensity sufficient to crack walls, break chimneys, to shatter old buildings or to produce cracks in the ground. (reference #1055)