The morning of the 24th of August AD79 was just another normal day in Pompeii, `so the people would have thought'. The people of Pompeii had no idea what was about to hit them. In the town tradesmen started work and removed the shutters from their shops and hung up their merchandise and the morning in Pompeii passed as usual without an event. Lunchtime came quickly. Suddenly the air was broken by a gigantic crash as the ground shook furiously.

People rushed into the streets most of them could not see what had happened. The people out in the open would have seen the great column of smoke rising from MT Vesavias. People were confused and shocked, they had never seen or even heard of an event comparable to the one they were staring at. Most of them just stood and watched not knowing what they were...