62 Pompeii earthquake occurred on 5 February 62 AD . It had an estimated magnitude of between 5 and 6 and a maximum intensity of IX or X on the Mercalli intensity scale . The towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum were severely damaged . The earthquake may have been a precursor to the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79 , which destroyed the same two towns . The contemporary philosopher and dramatist Seneca the Younger wrote an account of the earthquake in the sixth book of his '' Naturales quaestiones '' , entitled '' De Terrae Motu '' ( '' Concerning Earthquakes '' )
eruption of Mount Vesuvius
Eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79
62 Pompeii earthquake