If Mt Vesuvius erupts again, are there any known plans to evacuate the city?
Vesuvius, being a few miles out of town, didn’t actually harm Naples last time it erupted in the 1940’s. But this was an uncharscteristically small eruption and only managed to partially destroy a small village on the volcano’s slopes. Vesuvius has of course erupted catastrophically many times over recorded history (AD79 being the most famous). Anyone with a bit of geological knowledge can easily recognize the remains of much bigger, older lava flows and the thick deposits of volcanic ash and rubble (from devastating pyroclastic flows) that are extensive both within Naples and the surrounding countryside for miles around. For a better idea of what a full scale Vesuvian eruption would be like, check out the eyewitness descriptions the Vesuvian eruptions in AD79 by Pliny the Younger, or better still, go and visit the remains of the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum. However, it’s not just Vesuvius they need to worry about. The city of Naples (which has a population of several milli
