On 24 August, 79 A.D, the Mt Vesuvius volcano spewed a vast cloud of gas and ash some 15 kms in the air, raining ash on Pompei to a depth of 6 metres.

That night, the 30 km high cloud above the volcano collapsed, flowing along the south side of the volcano at 70kph. The town of Herculaneum on the coast was hit by the cloud - many inhabitants ran but those that stayed, who thought they were safe in the archlike structures along the beach, perished from the suffocating, intense heat.

The next 24 hours bought earthquakes and a further five burning clouds from the volcano, finally burying Herculaneum under a blanket of ash 23 metres deep.

Even though the volcano is overdue another eruption, thousands of Italians still inhabit the slopes of Vesuvius and the surrounding regions around the Bay of Naples.