POMPEIAN * DESTROYERS PONDERING : MASTER GLOBAL ESSAY

While Mount Vesuvius raged overhead - another killer thundered underfoot.

Pompeii was destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D., entombing residents under layers of volcanic ash. But there is more to this story of a Roman city's doom.

Research published in the Journal Frontiers in Earth Science offers proof that Pompeii was simultaneously wrecked by a massive earthquake. The discovery establishes a new timeline for the city's demise.

Researchers have always had an inkling that seismic activity contributed to the city's destruction.

The ancient writer Pliny the Younger reported from his vantage point in a nearby town that the eruption of Vesuvius had been accompanied by violent tremors. But, until now no evidence had been discovered to support this historical account.

A team of researchers led by Domenico Sparice from Italy's National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology decided to investigate this gap in the record.

Dr. Sparice said that excavations of Pompeii to date had not included experts in the field of  archaeoseismology, which deals with the effects of earthquakes on ancient buildings.

Contributions from specialists in this area were key to the discovery, he said. 

'' The effects of seismicity have been speculated by past scholars, but no factual evidence has been reported before our study,'' Dr. Sparice said, adding that the finding was '' very exciting.''

The team focused on the Insula of the Chaste Lovers. The area encompasses several buildings, including a bakery and a house where painters were evidently interrupted by the eruption, leaving their frescoes uncolored.

After excavation and careful analysis, the researchers concluded that walls in the insula had collapsed because of an earthquake.

First, they ruled out hazards such as falling debris as a primary cause of the destruction. Then compared the damage with known effects of seismic destruction - for example, on historical buildings.

The excavation also revealed a pair of skeletons covered with wall fragments in the insula.

One skeleton even showed signs of having attempted to take cover. Bone fracture patterns and crushing injuries observed in modern earthquake victims are evidence that these Romans were killed by a building collapse.

The World Students Society thanks Jordan Pearson.