This Huge Volcano Is Due to Erupt - What If It Happened Today

day one a small but powerful tremor is shaking the city of naples italy the news networks are reporting on the event the experts believe that mount vesuvius the stratovolcano on the gulf of naples will explode soon but when it's erupted many times in the past in fact that's how it got its shape it's made of multiple layers of hardened lava pumice and ash vesuvius last erupted in 1944 but a major blast happened there nearly 2 000 years ago it buried the roman towns of pompeii and herculaneum and decimated the surrounding areas today 3 million people live less than 20 miles from the volcano and six hundred thousand live in the danger zone large eruptions happen every few thousand years usually after long periods of calm and the trouble is vesuvius is long overdue for its next one this time though the volcano is being watched by the vesuvius observatory it has seismic stations special gps arrays and satellite-based radar to help it measure ground movement they also have special equipment to test the chemicals found in the gases coming from the volcano all of this helps the experts work out whether it's about to go off but will it right now the magma is more than six miles from the surface things seemed safe yesterday but now they're about to take a turn for the worse day three another tremor comes in measuring three on the richter scale all the equipment that's installed near the volcano is now going off the magma is pushing upwards it's not at the surface yet but vesuvius is definitely restless two more tremors follow in the afternoon they don't feel like regular earthquakes and geologists can see the difference in their seismographs volcanic quakes register about four to five less on the richter scale now the experts are sure it's just a matter of days or weeks until the volcano erupts some volcanoes can be restless for months or even years before they go off but that's not how it goes with vesuvius day four the ground starts to crack open as if a giant creature is trapped in the earth's crust and is trying to desperately get out for some air steam escapes from the little cracks in the soil certain areas are hotter than others if you went there it would feel like you walked straight into an oven and it would be hard to breathe some sheep got too close to the mountain and passed out when the farmer found them he almost collapsed too not from the heat but from the gases carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide are being released into the air the entire area around the volcano smells like rotten eggs and many of the forest animals are now staying clear the nearby trees have been absorbing these gases from the soil for days on end now and they're starting to turn brown the carbon dioxide levels in the area are skyrocketing and all the detectors are beeping constantly day six the tremors are getting more frequent experts at the vesuvius observatory monitoring the volcano say the quakes are coming from the magma that's being pushed upwards a few hours later the national emergency alert goes out thousands of local people have around 15 days before the volcano erupts and they need to evacuate their homes the 600 000 people in the danger zone start to pack their suitcases and leave in cars and trucks there's chaos everywhere but in all that disorder some people are standing still they look around trying to understand what's really going on a few of them are taking photos of their homes others are streaming all the confusion on social media but the senior citizens are just standing outside looking at their houses one last time they hope this is all just a false alarm it's happened before but who really knows [Music] day seven it was a sleepless night plenty of the locals have already left some good people from other towns drive to the area to help the residents evacuate faster there's a massive traffic jam but everyone expected it this is why the evacuation started early ferries trains and buses have cancelled their services to help the evacuees they're all working on a tight schedule to make sure everyone gets out safe without any delays some people refuse to leave but their neighbors eventually convince them to go it will take seven days to evacuate everyone and these people will spread out to other areas of the country not just to the nearby safe regions day 10 more than half of the residents have now left the red zone after the chaos there's now silence and it's interrupted by the eerie sounds of the tremors animals are being evacuated too many people are now trying to save as many animals from the forest as they can find day 16 all 25 of the towns that were at risk have now been evacuated the red zone is empty but the tremors are getting stronger as the volcano is a pressure cooker ready to explode white smoke rises from the large opening on the mountain top and the vents on the side the molten rock moves toward the surface and the pressurized gases form bubbles just like the ones you see when you boil food suddenly there are some loud booms and then an explosion it's loud enough to be heard thousands of miles away and the shock wave is felt throughout italy volcanic rock is thrown up into the air a thick black mushroom cloud forms and expands into the sky the birds abandon their nests and fly away in huge flaws the red hot lava is now spewing out of the volcano like a fountain as it flows downward it obliterates everything in its path then there's a volcanic landslide part of the cone-shaped mountain falls off and millions of tons of soil and rock break loose from the volcano side and tumble down the lava spreads on the slopes and it slowly slides down into the forest and the farmlands the plume of ash hummus and other kinds of rock has risen so high into the sky that people can see it from rome then the tower of debris starts falling back to earth first comes the ash then chunks of rock the ash in the atmosphere is so dense that it's hard to breathe the lava slowly spreads across the area and pulls down all the trees all the nearby towns are shrouded in darkness and smoke buildings collapse and all around there's a mixture of heated poisonous gas and rock moving faster than a car other rocks and more volcanic ash fall miles away from the volcano hitting cars and destroying roofs the sky is completely black as the lava keeps on coming slowly all the nearby towns are submerged beneath the molten rock some of the lava even reaches the sea gigantic white steam covers the shore where it falls in and the magma turns black now a weird neon blue fire appears on the slopes of vesuvius this is caused by burning sulfuric gases they're escaping at high pressure from the cracks in the volcano surface when they come into contact with the air they ignite these blue flames can reach 16 feet into the air now all nearby flights are canceled and many planes have to change course to reach their destination ever since the national alert no planes have been allowed to fly over the volcano the clouds of volcanic ash can damage jet engines and other plane components the water supply is now contaminated by streams of volcanic ash and it smells unbelievably bad in just a short amount of time all that magma has made entire towns vanish only the roofs of taller buildings can be seen after the big and explosive eruption there are some smaller and quieter ones at this stage nobody knows if the volcano has stopped erupting yet and absolutely no one can go anywhere near the area ten years later most parts of the red zone are now hidden under hardened but still warm lava including the ancient site of pompeii some people have started to forget about what happened others have begun their new lives elsewhere and some don't even want to think about what happened to their old homes but several of them are counting the days until they can go back 100 years later you're walking in what appears to be a wasteland of volcanic ash you suddenly realize that you're standing on top of your great-grandparents town everything is now submerged under a thick carpet of solidified lava but below it all just about everything is still intact completely frozen in time

Channel: BRIGHT SIDE

Views: 319,312

Rating: 4.89293 out of 5

Keywords: bright side, brightside, vesuvius eruption, vesuvius volcano, vesuvius and pompeii, volcano eruption, dangerous volcanoes, most dangerous volcanoes documentary, natural phenomena in the world, natural phenomena caught on camera, natural phenomena documentary, extraordinary things in the world, amazing natural phenomena around the world, best what if questions, facts about nature, strange what if questions, what would happen if, hypothetical questions, bright side what if

Id: 2_ymyHM1lCA

Length: 9min 7sec (547 seconds)

Published: Thu Oct 15 2020