Do you realize that there are some three million people living around Mt. Vesuvius?

[conuly]

Vesuvius, of course, is a volcano that has erupted no less than thirty-six times since the eruption that destroyed Pompeii. Many of those eruptions seem to have been particularly severe, with ash reported miles and miles away.

This strikes me as a particularly foolhardy place to live. I can only wonder at the fact that three million people exist who do not think as I do.

Comments

[moggymania.livejournal.com]

Maybe it's like the people living in the various other areas that tend to have serious disasters — that if you've lived in the area your entire life without anything happening, it doesn't seem to be a real threat? I do routinely see an exchange between people native to areas with different routine disasters — the one invariably thinks the other is scarier, and will say that they can't understand how the other person can choose to live in such a dangerous place. (One common example being Californians & Floridians arguing over whether earthquakes or hurricaines are more problematic. :)

[elfster.livejournal.com]

'round here you might even see people arguing about which routine disasters are the coolest :p.

[conuly]

Not volcanoes, those are rather the antithesis of cool :)

[conuly]

I can only assume so, because three million people didn't show up there by accident - they've been moving in in the past few decades or so, despite all evidence saying that the next blast is going to be REALLY BIG since it's been dormant for 60 years.

[adiva_calandia]

*. . . eyes Alaska*

No comment. >.>

[conuly]

Isn't a comment just to say no comment actually a comment after all?

[elfster.livejournal.com]

Sometimes it's hard to avoid living in places like that. Take New Zealand for example. Anywhere you go you're in a geologically unstable area:

- Our most populated city (over 1 million people) is build upon a dormant volcano field situated on a narrow isthmus.

- The whole central North Island has a vast magma sheet beneath it and Rotorua is a city built on a geothermal hotspot (vents open up in backyards and drunk people who wander off the track show up boiled occasionally).

- Lake Taupo is the crater of a huge volcano that caused the world's biggest recorded eruption and it's neighbouring volcanoes have erupted very recently (i.e. in the past few decades).

- The whole country sits on a major fault line and is prone to frequent, sometimes very large earthquakes. NZ is slowly being pulled apart.

[conuly]

So why live in New Zealand, then?

I mean, Vesuvius? People are building illegally to live on top of that thing. The government has to pay them to encourage them to move, and it isn't even working.

[mayna.livejournal.com]

We went to Pompeii when Maylie was a little over a year, and the area feels fairly remote, you can see vesuvius way off in the distance when you're visiting the Pompeii remains. The whole area is gorgeous though, and I'm sure land in Italy is at a premium. so probably for the same reason everyone wants a house at the beach is why they're building there, not that I necessarily agree that they should be.

NZ is a different thing though, it's been stable there long enough to grow into a decent population. And if you're born there, you don't necessarily want to move away from all your friends and family (and about the only place that would be easiest TO move to would be to Australia). I have to say though that NZ is the most beautiful place in the world.

[xiggaroo.livejournal.com]

says someone who lives very near a chunk of swiss-cheese-bedrock with billions of tons of steel pressing down on it...

[conuly]

Which lies directly on top of some fault lines, I know. But we don't have a volcano in our backyard.

[ciara-belle.livejournal.com]

I guess because nothing serious has happened recently, they think it's ok.

There is some very pretty countryside around there.

[conuly]

Last eruption was in 1944. Took out three towns and 88 fighter planes.

And apparently the eruptions get worse the longer the period between them. Yee haw.

I don't care how pretty the countryside is, I'm not going there for so much as a three minute tour.

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

Why do people live in California? Or in Japan? This is a big planet, but in these days we're too many humans to hand-pick the places where we live for safety...

[conuly]

People are actively choosing to live there, though. It's not because of overcrowding elsewhere, or because their ancestors always lived there - they're moving there in droves.

[l33tminion]

Surprising as it may be, lots of people live near volcanoes, on fault lines, in areas frequented by hurricanes or tornadoes, below sea level, on the flood plain of rivers, etc., etc.

And I suppose the same could be said for people who live near polluting factories, below dams, near power plants...

[conuly]

Clearly, we need to move all the polluting factories and powerplants to volcanoes on faultlines which are frequented by tornadoes.

[l33tminion]

GENIUS!

[conuly]

You mark my words - they'll be lining up to move in.

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

I hear rent and property is really cheap in such places.

[calieber.livejournal.com]

A skyscraper was attacked while I was in it. I've been through at least two hurricanes, and so have you. Disaster is everywhere; it's a suburb of Rome, that must offer redeeming value.

[conuly]

Hurricanes rarely cover one with molten anything, though I concede the point about skyscrapers.

[cmarie14.livejournal.com]

Did you see the recent PBS special on Pompeii and Herculanium? I've been studying it for years but the special actually had stuff I hadn't heard before. :)

[moggymania.livejournal.com]

Maybe it's like the people living in the various other areas that tend to have serious disasters — that if you've lived in the area your entire life without anything happening, it doesn't seem to be a real threat? I do routinely see an exchange between people native to areas with different routine disasters — the one invariably thinks the other is scarier, and will say that they can't understand how the other person can choose to live in such a dangerous place. (One common example being Californians & Floridians arguing over whether earthquakes or hurricaines are more problematic. :)

[elfster.livejournal.com]

'round here you might even see people arguing about which routine disasters are the coolest :p.

[conuly]

Not volcanoes, those are rather the antithesis of cool :)

[conuly]

I can only assume so, because three million people didn't show up there by accident - they've been moving in in the past few decades or so, despite all evidence saying that the next blast is going to be REALLY BIG since it's been dormant for 60 years.

[adiva_calandia]

*. . . eyes Alaska*

No comment. >.>

[conuly]

Isn't a comment just to say no comment actually a comment after all?

[elfster.livejournal.com]

Sometimes it's hard to avoid living in places like that. Take New Zealand for example. Anywhere you go you're in a geologically unstable area:

- Our most populated city (over 1 million people) is build upon a dormant volcano field situated on a narrow isthmus.

- The whole central North Island has a vast magma sheet beneath it and Rotorua is a city built on a geothermal hotspot (vents open up in backyards and drunk people who wander off the track show up boiled occasionally).

- Lake Taupo is the crater of a huge volcano that caused the world's biggest recorded eruption and it's neighbouring volcanoes have erupted very recently (i.e. in the past few decades).

- The whole country sits on a major fault line and is prone to frequent, sometimes very large earthquakes. NZ is slowly being pulled apart.

[conuly]

So why live in New Zealand, then?

I mean, Vesuvius? People are building illegally to live on top of that thing. The government has to pay them to encourage them to move, and it isn't even working.

[mayna.livejournal.com]

We went to Pompeii when Maylie was a little over a year, and the area feels fairly remote, you can see vesuvius way off in the distance when you're visiting the Pompeii remains. The whole area is gorgeous though, and I'm sure land in Italy is at a premium. so probably for the same reason everyone wants a house at the beach is why they're building there, not that I necessarily agree that they should be.

NZ is a different thing though, it's been stable there long enough to grow into a decent population. And if you're born there, you don't necessarily want to move away from all your friends and family (and about the only place that would be easiest TO move to would be to Australia). I have to say though that NZ is the most beautiful place in the world.

[xiggaroo.livejournal.com]

says someone who lives very near a chunk of swiss-cheese-bedrock with billions of tons of steel pressing down on it...

[conuly]

Which lies directly on top of some fault lines, I know. But we don't have a volcano in our backyard.

[ciara-belle.livejournal.com]

I guess because nothing serious has happened recently, they think it's ok.

There is some very pretty countryside around there.

[conuly]

Last eruption was in 1944. Took out three towns and 88 fighter planes.

And apparently the eruptions get worse the longer the period between them. Yee haw.

I don't care how pretty the countryside is, I'm not going there for so much as a three minute tour.

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

Why do people live in California? Or in Japan? This is a big planet, but in these days we're too many humans to hand-pick the places where we live for safety...

[conuly]

People are actively choosing to live there, though. It's not because of overcrowding elsewhere, or because their ancestors always lived there - they're moving there in droves.

[l33tminion]

Surprising as it may be, lots of people live near volcanoes, on fault lines, in areas frequented by hurricanes or tornadoes, below sea level, on the flood plain of rivers, etc., etc.

And I suppose the same could be said for people who live near polluting factories, below dams, near power plants...

[conuly]

Clearly, we need to move all the polluting factories and powerplants to volcanoes on faultlines which are frequented by tornadoes.

[l33tminion]

GENIUS!

[conuly]

You mark my words - they'll be lining up to move in.

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

I hear rent and property is really cheap in such places.

[calieber.livejournal.com]

A skyscraper was attacked while I was in it. I've been through at least two hurricanes, and so have you. Disaster is everywhere; it's a suburb of Rome, that must offer redeeming value.

[conuly]

Hurricanes rarely cover one with molten anything, though I concede the point about skyscrapers.

[(Anonymous)]

Did you see the recent PBS special on Pompeii and Herculanium? I've been studying it for years but the special actually had stuff I hadn't heard before. :)