<p>Detailed descriptions of the effects of explosive eruptions on urban settlements available to volcanologists are relatively rare. Apart from disease and starvation, the largest number of human deaths caused by explosive eruptions in the twentieth century ...

The eruption of Vesuvius of 79 AD caused extensive destructions all over the Campanian area, engulfing the cities of Pompeii, Herculaneum, Oplonti and Stabiae. The eruption followed a long quiescence period and the inhabitants of the area were surprised by ...