The disaster began midday on August 24 or October 24, 79 CE, when Mount Vesuvius erupted, sending a cloud of volcanic fragments and gas into the air. A 32-hours nightmare: Minute-by-minute ...
On Aug. 24, in A.D. 79, Mount Vesuvius erupted, shooting over 3 cubic miles of debris up to 20 miles (32.1 kilometers) in the air. As the ash and rock fell to Earth, it buried the ancient cities ...