CSI: Pompeii
Other than being placed in one of the most unfortunate places on earth, Pompeii was a beautiful place. What led to it's destruction was it's fatal location- Pompeii was situated next to a volcano. Mt. Vesuvius.
Two thousand years before, Mt. Vesuvius was very active- but the people living in Pompeii two thousand years later had no idea that the mountain to close to their homes was actually a volcano. No one knew.
On Pompeii's last day, the day of the eruption- the 27th of August 79AD, nobody knew what was going to happen, so they just carried on doing their daily routines. Then, sometime in the morning, Mt. Vesuvius started to send tremors into the ground. The majority did not even feel them, but the few that did just shook it off.
When the volcano erupted, all hell broke loose. Literally.
Nobody in that time didn't even have the slightest idea what a volcano was. Fifteen minutes after the eruption occured, ash was sent flying 15 kilometres into the air. Now, since fate is warped, the wind which would have usually been able to blow the ask away was now actually blowing the ash directly to Pompeii. Soon, the sky had a great grey sheet covering it- even the sun was obscured, causing darkness to befall upon the city of Pompeii. By this point, even if the people did not know what Mt. Vesuvius was, they were all already fearing for their lives.
Soon, the ash started to rise at an alarming rate. This wouldn't be that much of a problem, except for the fact that when ash freezes, it turns into magma (which is a very, very hard substance). Magma pebbles were falling from the sky 200km/h- it was just like rain. The only difference was, that, rain wasn't dangerous. If one of these magma pebbles happened to fall and hit the fleeing people, some pretty serious injuries could be created...and even deaths.
The magma was starting to pile up on the roofs of Pompeii. The roofs could not hold the pressure- they crumbled and fell in on their owners. They died before the real horror even began...it may have been an act of mercy.
All slaves were expected to stay by their master's side to protect them, but some ran and fled. They did this even when they knew that if they had survived the eruption, they would be severely punished for running away. It was horrible.
As if ash and complete and utter darkness in the daytime and terror everywhere wasn't enough, Mt. Vesuvius sent more. It sent a cloud of burning hot volcanic gas down the mountain, it would kill anyone in it's path. The cloud was hot- five times hotter than boiling water. Even if they did not die in the cloud, it contained powerful toxic gases which filled the air and made breathing difficult- you would suffocate.
One of these clouds went straight down the hill and into Pompeii. The other went to an island on which hundreds of people had gathered on the beach, hoping for some sort of rescue mission to save all of them. They died gruesomely- bones shattering, brains boiling and finally exploding...
It only took seven hours. Seven hours after the eruption and all streets were deserted, swiped clean of people. Around five thousand people died in this catastrophe. Now, all there is to remind us of it is facts and Pompeii...the city that was once so alive, is now dead and in ruins.
