Death in an instant
During the fourth surge, temperatures reached about 300 °C, enough to kill in a fraction of a second.Mount Vesuvius 79 AD: How Pyroclastic Surges Killed
Walls fall, towns vanish
Surges 4 and 5 knocked down walls and finished Pompeii, while Herculaneum was buried under 23 m of deposits. Currents incinerated or suffocated anyone left.Mount Vesuvius 79 AD: How Pyroclastic Surges Killed
