Syn-eruptive Seismic Destruction Increased Pompeii Death Toll

The eruption of the powerful volcano Vesuvius, which destroyed the ancient Roman city of Pompeii, remains one of history’s most well-known and well-remembered natural disasters. But what many don’t realize is that Pompeii was actually destroyed by two natural disasters, which were related but occurred separately: the eruption of the volcano, and a powerful series of earthquakes that followed it.

While the volcanic eruption has been heavily studied, less is known about the syn-eruptive earthquakes (the name for tremors triggered by volcanic activity) that occurred shortly thereafter. But during a recent excavation at the Insula del Casti Amanti building complex in central Pompeii, new evidence emerged that showed just how intense and destructive these earthquakes really were.

Two skeletons discovered in the ruins of a Pompeii building and which have led scientists to conclude that their deaths must have been caused by wall collapses triggered by earthquakes. Image: Pompeii Archaeological Park. (Pompeii Archaeological Park)

Syn-eruptive Seismic Destruction

In a new study just released in the journal Frontiers in Earth Science, a team of researchers from Italy’s National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) and the Archaeological Park of Pompeii report on the discovery of collapsed buildings and buried bodies that reveal the true effects of syn-eruptive seismicity during the catastrophe that wiped out one of ancient Rome’s most luxurious urban enclaves.

This study is the first ever done that has looked more deeply at the damage done by the earthquakes experienced at Pompeii. Until now the destruction has basically all been credited to the effects of the volcano, but the results of the new research contradict this assumption.

“These complexities are like a jigsaw puzzle in which all the pieces must fit together to unravel the complete picture,” explained Dr. Domenico Sparice, a volcanologist at INGV-Osservatorio Vesuviano and the lead author of the Frontiers in Earth Science study.

“We proved that seismicity during the eruption played a significant role in the destruction of Pompeii and, possibly, influenced the choices of the Pompeiians who faced an inevitable death.”

Skeleton of ‘individual 1’, a male aged around 50 years. The positioning suggests he was suddenly crushed by the collapse of a large wall fragment, resulting in severe traumas causing immediate death. (Pompeii Archaeological Park)

The Sky Rained Fire, and then the Ground Shook

While digging around a structure in the Insula dei Casti Amanti known as the ‘Casa dei Pittori al Lavoro,’ the researchers noticed that collapsed structures in the area didn’t seem to have been damaged by volcanoes.

 “We found peculiar characteristics that were inconsistent with the effects of volcanic phenomena described in the volcanological literature devoted to Pompeii,” stated study co-author Dr. Mauro Di Vito, a volcanologist and director of the INGV-Osservatorio Vesuviano. “There had to be a different explanation.”

Location of the excavated rooms where the skeletons were found in Pompeii. (Pompeii Archaeological Park)

Syn-eruptive seismic activity was the most obvious candidate to have caused the unusual damage, since it is known that powerful earthquakes shook the smoldering ruins of Pompeii after the initial eruption of Vesuvius. Verification of this comes from the first-century letters of Pliny the Younger (61-113 AD), a Roman lawyer, legislator, and judge who wrote about many of the most important events that occurred during the early days of the Roman Empire.

Adding more intrigue to the discovery of the earthquake-impacted buildings, the researchers later unearthed two skeletons buried in the rubble that were in extremely bad condition. They had suffered multiple broken bones and other signs of severe trauma, indicating they’d been killed during the collapse of the buildings. Everything had happened quite suddenly, as is typical when powerful earthquakes strike, giving the two individuals no time to escape the destruction around them.

Skeleton of ‘individual 2’, a male aged around 50 years, who may have been aware of the danger and tried to protect himself with a round wooden object. The researchers found faint traces of it in the volcanic deposits. (Pompeii Archaeological Park)

A Day Like any Other in Pompeii…

The unexpected eruption of Vesuvius came during a typical day in Pompeii, and as such no one was prepared for its impact. For approximately 18 hours the city was showered with volcanic ash and fiery rocks, steadily burying it beneath a glowing blanket of debris. Scalding hot gases descended upon the city the following day, continuing the destruction and making the ruins of the city impossible to inhabit.

Between the volcanic showers and the arrival of the gas clouds, there was a period of relative calm. During this interruption in the destruction the survivors mostly fled, leaving their shelters to head off into the countryside.

But it seems a few individuals stayed behind, perhaps thinking they were safe inside their shelters. The folly of this assumption was exposed, however, when the earthquakes arrived.

“The people who did not flee their shelters were possibly overwhelmed by earthquake-induced collapses of already overburdened buildings,” said co-author Dr. Valeria Amoretti, an anthropologist who heads the Applied Research Laboratory at Pompeii’s Archaeological Park.  “This was the fate of the two individuals we recovered.”

The two skeletons were identified as having belonged to two middle-aged men. Both were apparently crushed by the debris, suggesting the collapse of the building they occupied had been sudden and total.

The True Story of Pompeii is Still Being Discovered

The new research findings will give archaeologists, anthropologists, and historians a much more accurate idea about how the destruction of Pompeii actually progressed.

“New insight into the destruction of Pompeii gets us very close to the experience of the people who lived here 2,000 years ago,” stated study co-author Dr. Gabriel Zuchtriegel, the director of the Pompeii Archaeological Park. “The choices they made as well as the dynamics of the events, which remain a focus of our research, decided over life and death in the last hours of the city’s existence.”

Top image: AI image representing the destruction at Pompeii due to seismic activity.  Source: Ruslan Batiuk/Adobe Stock

By Nathan Falde