August 25, 79 Eruption of Vesuvius

Name: August 25, 79 Eruption of Vesuvius
Start: 0079-08-25
Location: Vesuvius, Italy

August 25, 79 · VEI 5 · 2,100 deaths

Vesuvius in Italy erupted on August 25, 79 with a Volcanic Explosivity Index of 5. The eruption killed 2,100 people. It caused a tsunami.

Where it erupted

Vesuvius, Italy, with its other significant eruptions.

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The eruption

Date: August 25, 79
Volcano: Vesuvius, complex volcano
Country: Italy
Volcanic Explosivity Index: 5, very large (eruption column over 25 km)
Killed by: Pyroclastic flows, surges and direct blasts; Tephra (ash, bombs, lapilli, steam blasts)
Tsunami: Yes: the tsunami it caused
Earthquake: Yes: the earthquake with it
Location: 40.821° N, 14.426° E

The toll

Deaths: 2,100

Where the literature gives no number, NCEI records a description on a scale of 1 to 4, printed here in its words. Damage is in millions of US dollars of the year of the event, not adjusted for inflation.

What the record says

NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.

2,000 skeletons found in 3.5-excavated Pompeii, recently hundreds were found in partly-excavated Herculaneum. Pyroclastic surges affected these and other towns and produced most of the fatalities (total unknown).

79 A.D. October 24. Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI): 5?. Tephra Volume: 3.3 ± 0.5 x 109 m3.

Area of Activity: (Pompeii eruption). Eruptive Characteristics:

Central vent eruption,

Explosive eruption,

Pyroclastic flow(s),

Fatalities,

Damage (land, property, etc.),

Mudflow(s) (lahars),

Tsunami (giant sea waves),

Caldera collapse,

Evacuation. (reference #1412)

Luongo at al. (2003) indicate about 1150 identified victims in Pompeii and a total of about 1600, including estimates for unexcavated areas. Within the city 62% were killed by pyroclastic surges and 38% mainly by roof and wall collapse from plinian pumice-fall. Another 236 victims were identified outside the city walls. About 300 persons were killed by pyroclastic surges in shoreline boathouses at Herculaneum as well as an unknown number of others within the mostly evacuated city. (reference #9675)

Other significant eruptions of Vesuvius

Every eruption in 79 Years 1 to 99 Vesuvius Earthquakes near Vesuvius This day in weather history

Sources

Volcanoes and significant eruptions from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, Global Historical Hazard Database, cited as NCEI/WDS, doi:10.7289/V5PN93H7. Public domain. Read 2026-09-24. Volcano numbers are the Smithsonian Institution’s Global Volcanism Program’s. NCEI event 1348.