Mount Vesuvius, the active volcano on the coast of Italy, has erupted more than 50 times since burying the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum in 79 A.D.
It’s estimated that the first reported eruption killed about 3,400 people, mostly by burying them in thick pumice deposits.
From that date, and probably before that date, Mount Vesuvius erupted every 100 years until about 1037 A.D., when it went quiet.
Almost 600 years later, however (in 1631), it surprised nearby inhabitants again by erupting and causing over 4,000 deaths in the area.
It was during the cleanup from this eruption that the ruins of ancient Pompeii were first uncovered.
