Stunning bird's eye view of a volcanic eruption with massive ash cloud and smoke plumes.

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

Dramatic eruption of Mount Sinabung in North Sumatra, Indonesia, with massive ash cloud.

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

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