A volcano outgunned atomic bombs
In 79 AD, Vesuvius hurled a cloud skyward while ejecting 1.5 million tons per second of debris. It unleashed 100,000 times the thermal energy of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.Mount Vesuvius 79 AD: Power of the Plume
How it exploded
A Vesuvian column of hot gases and ash punched into the stratosphere. Then pyroclastic flows raced down the slopes.Mount Vesuvius 79 AD: Power of the Plume
