On 5 February AD 62 , the resort city suffered heavy damage from violent earthquakes . Restoration projects were still ongoing at that time and were cut short on 24 August AD 79 , when Vesuvius violently erupted and completely buried the small city under thick layers of hot volcanic debris . Unlike neighboring Pompeii , which was buried under pumice and fine ash , the citizens of Herculaneum died of severe thermal shock from successions of superheated pyroclastic surges and lava flows
violently erupted
Eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79
Ercolano