Vesuvius, the serial killer Natural disasters dominate our headlines. Body counts soar and it can ma

Vesuvius, the serial killerNatural disasters dominate our headlines. Body counts soar and it can make us feel like unwelcomed guests on an increasingly hostile planet. Nowhere is the peril more apparent than in the shadow of a volcano.The Earth is home to some 600+ active volcanoes; half a billion people live within their blast range. Some are known killers. Montserrat in the Caribbean, the 1997 eruption buried the nations capital in ash. Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines, its 1991 blast was 10 times the size of Mount St. Helens. Active volcanoes can appear dormant, but many are in fact ticking time bombs.Naples Italy, the uneasy neighbour of a seismic serial killer, makes it one city most likely to suffer a fiery death. Here 600,000 people live within the red zone. That’s the blast range of what’s undoubtedly the worlds most treacherous volcano: Vesuvius, a killer with a rap sheet a mile long. Its historic eruption in 79 AD entombed two entire cities, Pompeii and Herculaneum, each about as close to Vesuvius as downtown Naples. Their victims are a haunting reminder of an ancient disaster and a warming to Naples population today.While most of the world knows the story of Pompeii, few realise just how often Vesuvius erupts. The last time was little more than a half a century ago in 1944. The allied forces had invaded Italy and were driving north; a few tremours from a quiet volcano was the last thing on their minds. For more than a week pumice, volcanic gases and searing hot ash shot out. Rivers of lava poured down the mountainside. In total it killed 26 people, the city got off easy. Which is why perhaps its lesson was seemingly ignored. Because from 1994 to 2004, those living in Vesuvius’s shadow grew to 600,000, and all the while this mass murderer is in no doubt building towards another disaster.The city is so concerned; they’re actually paying people to leave. Officials are pleading with families to move out of the red zone, the area most likely to be devastated by the next eruption. Why haven’t people already left? Because Vesuvius like many other volcanoes that go long periods between eruptions holds a deadly attraction. Mineral rich volcanic soil creates an inviting paradise on the outside, beneath, murder broods in its molten heart.Like Earthquakes, most active volcanoes are born from the ‘rubbing’ of tectonic plates, which brings up magma from deep beneath the Earth. Some of the volcanoes in the middle of plates aren’t as volatile. They continuously spew lava leaving the underground pressure. It is this action that somewhat stabilises the Earth. If it didn’t realise this built up pressure, it would eventually go off with one mighty bang and make Earth inhabitable for human life. Volcanoes on vaults like Vesuvius build magma and pressure for years until they erupt with explosive force.A force of nature that’s impossible to stop. It isn’t a question of if it will happen, but when it will happen.~ JMImage Credit: http://bit.ly/1GGHItsMore Info:Living in the Red Zone http://bit.ly/1wJkPmYVesuvius Introduction: http://bit.ly/1tmqHNJMount Vesuvius, ticking time bomb:http://bbc.in/1EpVdygBBC News Report Video: http://bbc.in/1NtQVp7 -- source link

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