VOLCANOES

Erupting volcanoes have always fascinated people.  We love to watch pictures of a volcano erupting. Although devastating volcanic eruptions are rare they have occurred regularly in human history. 

Among famous volcanoes few can equal Mount Vesuvius. No doubt the most famous volcanic eruption was the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 DC.  What is particularly interesting for our purposes is that it struck a thriving, successful, economically strong and varied community.  And what was the result of all this. Well first it wiped out two major Roman cities, completely.  Yet contrary to what many may believe, some people did escape.  Pliny the younger among others, who is able to give us a first-hand description of the destruction of Pompeii as he sailed away from the harbor in his ship.  (We read a translation of this and insert interesting information here)

Few were as lucky as Pliny and able to escape, but he was an important man with great power and wealth.  He had access to boats in the harbor.  Few others did, and they died. So if you insist in living near a volcano, be sure to be rich and have a boat tied up in the harbor.

But ancient Pompeii was not the only city to be wiped out by a volcano. In 1902 on the Caribbean island of Martinique a volcanic eruption killed nearly everyone in the town of St. Pierre.

  Quite recently, in 1995, on the well populated island of Montserrat a volcanic eruption buried about half the island under volcanic ash. Fortunately, the combination of modern scientific observation of the Monserrat volcano and modern communications were able to warn the inhabitants who mostly moved away in time, but their homes, farms, and businesses were totally destroyed. The Monserrat eruption caused little loss of live, but was a terrible disaster for many individuals.