Skeletons discovered in Pompeii suggest earthquake added to disaster

The ancient city of Pompeii was known to have been buried under pumice and volcanic ash in 79 AD, but a new study reveals it was also hit by earthquakes, adding a new chapter of horror to the eruption of Mount Vesuvius.

For centuries, scientists have been piecing together the details of this time-frozen catastrophe: roofs laden with volcanic rock collapsed, choking clouds of ash fell, and a fast-moving stream of searing gas and volcanic material raced through the city.

Then last year, scientists discovered two skeletons of men with broken bones, evidence that during a brief respite from the blast, a powerful earthquake had collapsed buildings and crushed people in their homes.

The team spent months piecing together the stories of the two victims, both men in their 50s, whose injuries were eerily similar to those of modern-day victims of building collapses during earthquakes. Drawing on expertise in volcanology, anthropology and archaeo-seismology, the researchers conclude in the journal Frontiers in Earth Science that the men likely survived the first phase of the eruption and were sheltering in a house when a wall collapsed on them, knocked down by a powerful earthquake.

The study is unusual because it draws on the expertise of scientists from many fields. Raffaello Cioni, a volcanologist at the University of Florence who was not involved in the work, called the analysis “really thorough and convincing.”

For centuries, Pompeii has been a source of intense fascination for scholars and the general public. In his historical account of the eruption, Pliny the Younger, a lawyer and author, describes the tremors that shook the ground before and during the eruption. But deciphering the precise signature of the earthquake has been difficult, given the chaotic interaction of so many destructive forces.

“Recognizing the effects of an earthquake during a volcanic eruption is a very complex task, because the two phenomena can occur in succession, or simultaneously. It’s like a jigsaw puzzle, where all the pieces have to fit together,” said Domenico Sparris, a volcanologist at the Vesuvius Observatory in Naples, who led the work.

Volcanic eruption causes earthquakes

Vesuvius erupted in stages, beginning in the late morning. At about 1 p.m., the volcano began spewing gas, ash and rock in an 18-mile-high column, creating a shower of pumice that buried the city and toppled roofs, causing the first wave of death. Survivors of this first phase probably tried to escape on foot, hoisting themselves over the pumice layer, using branches as walking sticks. But the searing “pyroclastic flow”—a fast-moving stream of ash, gas and rock fragments—killed the survivors, who may have suffocated.

Pliny the Younger lived through the eruption as a teenager at Misenum, about 18 miles west of Vesuvius, and described the earthquakes that occurred the night after the eruption began as “so severe that everything seemed not only to shake but to overturn.” He also recorded an earthquake at sunrise—which shook the ground so hard that chariots held in place with stones were moved.

But scientists didn’t discover direct evidence of earthquakes until they found walls that had collapsed in ways that contradicted volcanic explanations. Then they found the skeletons. The first individual’s body was riddled with fractures to his ribs, skull and pelvis. The second individual had his legs buried under a piece of wall, but he too was leaning on his left side, his hand protecting his head. Scientists think he may have been trying to protect himself.

The new findings add to the horror that unfolded early in the morning on the second day of the eruption, after most of the lava had erupted. The collapse of part of the volcano created a caldera, triggering a dangerous second phase of the eruption and an earthquake, Sioni said. The new evidence raises the possibility that earthquakes may have added to the danger, with ground shaking causing stress on the pumice-laden surfaces.

Gianni Galileo, a distinguished researcher at the University of Valencia who specializes in using chemistry to understand the ancient past, said the study provides an interesting variant of the hazards that occurred that day in Pompeii and will add to the complex puzzle of reconstructing this tragic event. But he said the question remains whether these men died as a result of the collapse of the wall or were buried after their deaths due to some other cause.

“In science, there is never an end. We are constantly improving and adding new information,” Galileo said. “This is the never-ending story.”

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