1631 eruption of Mount Vesuvius
| 1631 eruption of Mount Vesuvius | |
|---|---|
 Domenico Gargiulo, The eruption of the Vesuvius in 1631 (Oil on canvas, Capua private coll.) | |
| Volcano | Mount Vesuvius |
| Start time | 16 December, 1631 |
| End time | 31 January, 1632? |
| Type | Plinian eruption |
| Location | Campania, Italy |
| VEI | 5 |
| Impact | At least 4,000 people were killed |
In December 1631, Mount Vesuvius in Italy erupted. The eruption began on 16 December 1631 and culminated the day after.[1] The Volcanic Explosivity Index was VEI-5, and it was a Plinian eruption that buried many villages under the resulting lava flows.[2] Large quantities of ashes and dust were ejected and several streams of molten lava poured out of the crater and down the sides of the mountain, overwhelming many villages.[3] It is estimated that between 4,000 people were killed by the eruption, making it the highest death toll for a volcanic disaster in the Mediterranean in the last 1800 years.[1] The 1631 eruption was considered to be of minor proportions regarding its eruptive magnitude and erupted volumes compared to the AD 79 eruption, but the damage was not.[1]
By the 1631 eruption, the summit of Mount Vesuvius had been reduced by 450m, making its total height lower than that of Mount Somma.[4] The eruption marked the beginning a long period of almost continuous eruptive activity by Vesuvius, that lasted until the eighteenth century.[5]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c "Vesuvio: The eruption of 1631". www.geo.mtu.edu. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
- ^ "This Day in History: Eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 1631 | NOAA National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS)". www.nesdis.noaa.gov. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
- ^ Miller, William John (1927). An Introduction to Physical Geology With a Special Reference to North America. New York: D. Van Nostrand Company. p. 325.
- ^ "Vesuvio79". sakuya.vulcania.jp. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
- ^ Everson 2012, p. 691.
Bibliography[edit]
- Recupito, Giulio Cesare (1632). De Vesuuiano incendio nuntius (in Latin). Neapoli: ex regia typographia Aegidij Longhi.
- Rolandi, G.; Barrella, A.M.; Borrelli, A. (1993). "The 1631 eruption of Vesuvius". Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research. 58: 183–201. doi:10.1016/0377-0273(93)90107-3.
- Cocco, Sean (2013). Watching Vesuvius. A History of Science and Culture in Early Modern Italy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-22-692371-0.
- Everson, Jane E. (2012). "The melting pot of science and belief: studying Vesuvius in seventeenth-century Naples". Renaissance Studies. 26 (5): 691–727. JSTOR 24420135.
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