In Naples stands a terrifying, silent giant.
This giant’s skin is rock and he towers over the buildings of Naples.
The quiet giant sleeps and waits for his time to wake up and cause more destruction than he did 2,000 years ago.
Vesuvius is his name and he is one of the most famous volcanoes in history.
Vesuvius wiped out towns such as Pompeii, Herculaneum, Opolntis, Stabiae and more.
The volcano’s destruction buried these towns.
However, many preserved buildings stand empty with nature growing through their cracks.
The atmosphere creates an eerie ghost town for guests to walk through with heavy hearts. This destruction stands at the front of everyone’s minds when mentioning 79 CE and Vesuvius.
But no one thinks about the towns farther from the famous ones that also took a hit from this giant’s club.
Other Towns Affected
The ground violently shakes in Pompeii. It vibrates in Herculaneum. Buildings fall in Naples, Sorrento, and even Capri.
Everyone feels the wrath of Vesuvius as it blows its top off.
People panic as they run to safety or the harbor. They hide or hop on boats to take them away. Everyone does not know what this is.
Infact, there is not even a word for it. But the ones that were closest to the volcano sensed they would die if they did not do something.
These people thought Vesuvius was a mountain because it had not erupted for centuries.
Due to this, it had a lot of built-up pressure. Then, the pressure was so great that it blew Vesuvius’s top off and affected the entire area around it more than normal.
This includes places that are miles (or kilometers) away.These towns (as Naples, Sorrento and even Capri Island) only saw a severe earthquake and a toxic ash cloud.
According to scholarly sources, Sorrento hit an estimated 6.28 on the Richter scale.
Since Sorrento is 13.9 miles (22.5 km) from Vesuvius, this earthquake caused moderate to severe damage.
Destruction to Sorrento
It is Sorrento (or Surrentum), Italy 79 CE.
Everyone wakes up and starts their day. Servants run around in villas trying to get everything prepared for their masters. Farms attached to these private villas race to begin their tasks.
Further in town at the main square, merchants set up shop. People run from booths and places to get items for the day, and others go to work.
All is peaceful in this beautiful resort until minor tremors shake the earth. Concern spreads but no one notices the small ash cloud from Vesuvius and they think nothing is wrong. Everyone moves on.
Then in the height of the afternoon, Vesuvius is holding a funnel cloud 12 feet high (over 3,5 Km).
Everyone stops and watches. Soon, the earth shakes, Vesuvius roars, and the funnel drops.
Ash rains down. The cobblestones violently shake underneath the people’s feet.
The people of Sorrento duck and cover: they hide from the giant’s club across the bay!
Sorrento’s inhabitants can not see well due to the ash raining down. But can see enough to make out the shapes and features of people.
The severe earthquakes that follow this rain shake and destroy buildings.
The town’s Horologium falls. Roofs collapsing and buildings falling puts everyone into a panic. Nobody knows what is happening or about the tragedy across the bay.
This is only a guess of what it was like to see Vesuvius erupt from a distance. It was a terrifying experience for everyone!
Despite the unclear extent of Sorrento’s loss, it is nowhere near the destruction of places swallowed by Vesuvius. But the destruction of Sorrento’s sundial, or Horologium, is a notable event.
In the following year, Emperor Titus rebuilt the town’s Horologium. There is a plaque commemorating this in Sorrento’s Museo Correale di Terranova.
Another remaining scar from Vesuvius is a small black sand beach in Sorrento’s Marina Piccola.
The black sand is from the dark gray ash of Vesuvius. Over time, ash breaks down and washes ashore.
This breakdown is the ash eroding and it creates a volcanic beach, that is a dark color ranging from black to dark brown.
The Aftermath
After this tragedy, Sorrento rebuilt and grew into what it is today. However, the towns of Pompeii, Herculaneum and more places were not so lucky.
Ash and lava buried these places along with the people that remained.
Although this, the survivors of this tragedy relocated to other towns like Naples, Cumae, Ostia, and Puteoli (actual Pozzuoli).
It is unknown if some survivors resettled in Sorrento. But it is possible since most survivors stuck to the coast of Southern Italy.
These survivors continued to thrive and rebuild from this event. Some survivors married each other, continued their family businesses, or found their way in the world.
Despite these happy endings, this tragedy affected thousands and changed how we view volcanoes today!
Ciao!
Emalee
