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Mount Vesuvius Facts & Worksheets

Mount Vesuvius is located on the west coast of Italy. It is an active volcano in Europe and has erupted more than thirty times, but is best known for when it destroyed the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum in CE 79.

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Mount Vesuvius is an active somma-strato volcano in Campania, Italy, located on the Gulp of Naples. Vesuvius has erupted on numerous occasions in the past. Though it has been silent for 75 years since its last eruption in 1944, scientists consider it highly reactive and overdue for an eruption.

See the fact file below for more information about Mount Vesuvius, or download the comprehensive worksheet pack, which contains over 11 worksheets and can be used in the classroom or homeschooling environment.

Key Facts & Information

Geological Characteristics

  • The volcano is also known as Somma-Vesuvius because it is made up of a large cone called Gran Cono that is partially surrounded by the steep top crater rim formed by the collapse of Mount Somma (an earlier and much higher structure).
  • Due to the collision of two tectonic plates, the African and the Eurasian plates, Vesuvius was formed and considered a stratovolcano.
  • It began to form around 25,000 years ago during the Codola, Plinian eruption.
  • Around 17,000 to 18,000 years ago, a caldera formed during an eruption and was later expanded by paroxysmal eruptions. As a result, the volcano was given the name ‘Somma volcano,’ which refers to any volcano with a summit caldera or a large volcanic crater formed by a single major eruption that caused the volcano’s mouth to collapse.
  • Lava flows have damaged the volcano’s slopes, but the rest of the landscape is lush with vegetation, with shrubs and forests at higher elevations and vineyards at lower elevations.
  • Vesuvius is part of the Campanian volcanic arc, which includes several active, dormant, and extinct volcanoes in the Italian region of Campania.
  • Geologists consider it one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world, and they keep a close eye on it due to its geographical location on Europe‘s mainland, specifically in the city of Naples, which has a population of 3,000,000 people.
  • During eruptions, the lava temperature is around 1,200 degrees Celsius, and it emits and transports large rocks and smooth lava flow.
  • According to scientists, the volcano began to form around 25,000 years ago, while the original Somma caldera formed around 18,300 years ago.

Record of Eruptions

  • The exact number of Mount Vesuvius eruptions is unknown, but modern research has discovered some information.
  • One of the most famous eruptions was the 25-hour devastation on August 24, 79 CE, when the city of Pompeii in Rome‘s south was buried and wiped out.
  • The CE 79 eruption destroyed Pompeii, Herculaneum, and several other nearby settlements.
  • With erupting molten rocks and pulverized pumice, the volcano erupted a cloud of stones, ashes, and volcanic gases that reached a height of 33 kilometers.
  • Historians learned about the volcanic blast from Pliny the Younger’s eyewitness letters. It details his uncle, Pliny the Elder’s final days. In which the elder sends out a fleet to save a personal friend.
  • The eruption lasted 18 hours, according to Pliny the Younger, who was staying west along the Bay of Naples. Mount Vesuvius ejected a 10-mile mushroom cloud of ash and pumice into the stratosphere, burying Pompeii under 14 to 17 feet of debris.
  • Around 1,044 bodies had been recovered in and around Pompeii, with 38% of them discovered in ash fall deposits inside buildings and thought to have been killed by roof collapses.
  • The remaining 62% of remains were found at Pompeii in the pyroclastic surge deposits, probably died due to a combination of suffocation from inhaling ashes and blast and debris running around.
  • Before the year 79 CE, It is believed that the volcano had not erupted in 295 years.
  • Vesuvius has erupted roughly three dozen times since CE 79.
  • It erupted in the year 203. It was followed by 472, which ejected a volume of ash that reached Constantinople, 1,220 kilometers away from Naples.
  • The eruption of Vesuvius in 512 forced the inhabitants to grant a tax exemption to Theodoric the Great, the Gothic King of Italy.
  • The volcano went into dormancy at the end of the 13th century, and in the years that followed. Gardens and vineyards could be seen. The crater’s interior was also densely forested.
  • In December 1631, a major eruption buried many villages in lava flows, killing three thousand people.
  • Following that, Vesuvius’ activity was nearly continuous.
  • The April 5, 1906 eruption of Vesuvius is the most recorded lava eruption, killing over 100 people. The funds set aside for the upcoming 1908 Summer Olympics had to be used to rebuild Naples and find a new venue for the games.
  • From 1913 to 1944, Vesuvius was active with lava in its crater and occasionally spits small amounts of lava.
  • Mount Vesuvius has been silent since its last explosion in 1944, but it has caused several minor earthquakes. An earthquake of magnitude 3.6 struck Naples in October 1999.

Last Major Eruption (1944)

  • During World War II, the eruption that lasted a week and a half received little attention until months later. On March 17, 1944, a slow-moving lava flow, rock, and ash hailed down on San Sebastiano.
  • The evacuation management of the 7,000 townspeople was handled by American allied forces, while the Italian government suffered from the war’s chaos.
  • Only 26 civilians died after the US took control, even though 12,000 people were displaced.

Present Situation

  • The government has responded by demolishing illegally constructed buildings, establishing a national park around the entire volcano to prevent future building construction, and providing ample financial incentives.
  • Constant efforts are made to reduce the number of people living in the Red Zone.
  • Over the next 20 to 30 years, one underlying goal is to reduce the time required to evacuate the area from two to three days.
  • On June 5, 1995, the area around Mount Vesuvius had officially declared a national park.
  • The summit of Vesuvius is open to the public, and the park manager maintains a network of small trails around the volcano on weekends.
  • It can be reached by car, but after that, it can only be reached on foot.
  • From the road to the crater, a trail winds its way around the volcano.
  • The Osservatorio Vesuvio in Naples is closely monitoring the volcano, using an extensive network of seismic and gravity stations, a combination of GPS-based geodetic arrays, and satellite-based synthetic radars to measure ground motion.
  • Local surveys and chemical analyses are being used to keep track of it. As of May 2010, no magma had been detected within 10km of the surface, so the volcano is classified as Basic or Green Danger Level by the observatory.
  • According to Underworld, an educational Youtube channel, in a documentary exploring this year’s potential volcanic blasts, “Mount Vesuvius could erupt again – and soon.”
  • Despite the predictions of its eruption, its National Park is frequently visited by tourists from all over the world who want to climb the path into its depths. Its crater drew tourists, particularly those who had never seen a volcano before.
  • Today, the most popular route for visitors is the 4-kilometer trail up to the highest reaches of the cone, 1,170 meters above sea level, leading to the crater rim.

Mount Vesuvius Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle that includes everything you need to know about Mount Vesuvius across 24 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use Mount Vesuvius worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about  Mount Vesuvius, which is located on the west coast of Italy. It is an active volcano in Europe and has erupted more than thirty times, but is best known for when it destroyed the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum in CE 79.

Complete List of Included Worksheets

  • Mount Vesuvius Facts
  • Vesuvius and Pompeii
  • Volcanic Structure
  • Dangerously Majestic
  • Vesuvius 101
  • The City of Pompeii
  • Volcanic Hunt
  • World Monuments
  • Vesuvius in WWII
  • Start Digging!
  • Cause and Effect

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Mount Vesuvius still active?

Mount Vesuvius is an active somma-stratovolcano in Campania, Italy, located on the Gulp of Naples. Vesuvius has erupted on numerous occasions in the past. Though it has been silent for 75 years since its last eruption in 1944, scientists consider it highly reactive and overdue for an eruption.

Did Mount Vesuvius destroy Pompeii?

One of the most famous eruptions was the 25-hour devastation on August 24, 79 CE, when the city of Pompeii in Rome’s south was buried and wiped out.

How long did it take for Mount Vesuvius to destroy Pompeii?

The eruption lasted 18 hours, according to Pliny the Younger, who was staying west along the Bay of Naples. Mount Vesuvius ejected a 10-mile mushroom cloud of ash and pumice into the stratosphere, burying Pompeii under 14 to 17 feet of debris.

Will Mount Vesuvius erupt again?

Though it has been silent for 75 years since its last eruption in 1944, scientists consider it highly reactive and overdue for an eruption.

Will Mount Vesuvius erupt in 2022?

According to Underworld, an educational Youtube channel, in a documentary exploring this year’s potential volcanic blasts, “Mount Vesuvius could erupt again – and soon.”

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Use With Any Curriculum

These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.

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