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Lori Murdock
Clint Schmidt
GEOG 1700
7 February 2015
Project #1 Disaster Movie- Pompeii
This movie showed what life mightve been like in 79AD when Mount Vesuvius erupted.
I did some research on Pompeii and volcanoes to figure out what Hollywood got right and what
they got wrong about the natural disaster in the film. Then I identified how the film showed the
five fundamental concepts to understand the natural hazard better.
The film did a pretty good job of showing the events that took place before, during, and
after a volcano eruption. Scientists said that the dramatic depiction of the historic and horrific
disaster [in the movie Pompeii] stays relatively true to reality (Lewis). Towards the beginning
of the movie, the volcano was filmed showing a glow arising in the center of the volcano. The
glow is due to the magma rising to the surface (HaNDA). Another common event that occurs
before eruption is the increase of rumbling sounds as the volcano trembles (HaNDA). Later on,
as the volcano was just about to erupt, there were: landslides, rockfalls, earthquakes, lightning
and grey ash. These are all events that typically take place before eruption (HaNDA).
When the volcano erupted, the film showed the pyroclastic flows pretty accurately.
During the real Pompeii event, the pyroclastic surge was a 100-mile-per-hour surge of
superheated poison gas and pulverized rock[that] poured down the side of the mountain..[and]
swallowed everything and everyone in its path (Pompeii). This was demonstrated very well in
the movie because in the end, nothing remained of Pompeii. Everything and everyone was
swallowed up in the surge of the eruption at the end of the movie.
The film was also correct when they showed the people preserved in the encased ash.
This really did happen to Pompeii because the city was buried by 16 feet of ash, and ash
preserves things very well (Pompeii). The volcanic debris turned the land into a time capsule

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preserving the city exactly the way it was in 79AD. The shape of Pompeiis victims were
captured in the final moment of their lives (Pompeii).
Although the movie had a lot of correct details about the natural disaster at Pompeii, there
were a few things that were incorrect. First of all, the volcano in the movie shot out many
lava/volcanic bombs. Although volcanoes have been known to shoot out lava bombs, the type of
eruption that occurred in Pompeii didnt have them (Lewis). If it had, the damage the bombs
would have caused to the city would be evident [in their findings of Pompeii underground]
(Lewis). The eruption that occurred in Pompeii was called a Plinean eruption because it
looked like a pine tree that rose a great height on a sort of trunk and then split off into
branches (Pliny the Younger qt. in Pompeii). If this was a different type of volcanic eruption
that did have lava bombs, the film would have still been portrayed incorrectly because in the
movie these lava bombs were shown traveling great distances. Although lava bombs can travel
far (about 3.1 miles), the movie showed them reaching a lot further (Volcanic Bomb).
A second mistake the filmmakers made was when the movie showed a giant tsunami
surging into Pompeiis harbor, carrying a ship through the streets on a torrent of water (Lewis).
Some research shows that there may have been a small tsunamibut there is no evidence it was
powerful enough to bring ships into the city (Lewis).
The film demonstrated all 5 of the fundamental concepts weve been learning about. The
first one I identified was, Science helps us predict hazards. The film didnt show evidence of
actual scientists predicting when the volcano would happen, but one of the people in charge of
the gladiator events noticed that the ground was rumbling more and predicted from past events
that the volcano was going to erupt. What he did was forecast it because he: 1) identified the
location where the hazardous event would occur, 2) determined the probability that the event
occurring, 3) he observed the precursor events, 4) he forecasted or predicted the event, and 5) he
tried to warn the public by asking the wealthy merchant over the area to cancel the gladiator

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fights, but no one listened (Keller 13). As soon as he noticed the signs, and realized no one was
going to do anything about it, he tried to get on a ship and leave the land to be saved as fast as he
could. How this person reacted also somewhat goes along with another fundamental concept,
Knowing hazard risks can help people make decisions. He knew the probability of the event
and he knew the consequences that would follow so he made the decision to leave.
The third concept the film showed was, Linkages exist between natural hazards. In the
film, it shows earthquakes, fires, and landslides which are all natural hazards that are linked to
volcanoes (Keller 149). Flooding also occurred by chance due to the location of Pompeii next to
the sea and the disturbance of the volcano rumbles and earthquakes.
The fourth concept, Humans can turn disastrous events into catastrophes occurred
because Pompeii was vastly populated with around 20,000 residents and more than 2,000 people
died during the disaster (Pompeii). The whole city was literally erased from the map because
the devastation covered over 200 square miles (Pompeii). This eruption was one of the
deadliest eruptions ever to exist (Pompeii). Humans definitely turned the disaster into a
catastrophe by choosing to live so close to the active volcano.
The last key concept was: Consequences of hazards can be minimized. The magnitude
of the casualties could have definitely been minimized if people hadnt built their homes so close
to an active volcano like I said earlier. Another thing that wouldve helped minimize the effects
would be if the people of Pompeii knew the signs of an eruption so they could evacuate upon
noticing those signs.
In conclusion, Mount Vesuvius erupting in 79AD was a very disastrous event. Volcanic
eruptions cause other natural disasters to occur, making the overall disaster into devastation. The
movie Pompeii did a pretty accurate job of portraying how the eruption most likely was for the
people living there at that time.

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Works Cited
Keller, Edward A., Robert H. Blodgett, and Duane Edward. DeVecchio. Natural Hazards: Earth's
Processes as Hazards, Disasters, and Catastrophes. Third ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Pearson, 2012. Print.
Lewis, Tanya. "Lava Bombs and Tsunamis! How Accurate Is 'Pompeii' Movie?" LiveScience.
TechMedia Network, 20 Feb. 2014. Web. 10 Feb. 2015.
"Pompeii." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 03 Feb. 2015.
"Precursors of an Impending Volcanic Eruption." Precursors of an Impending Volcanic Eruption.
HAzard Notification, Dissemination and Awareness (HaNDA), n.d. Web. 10 Feb. 2015.