Editing Mount Vesuvius (section)

====Precursors and foreshocks====
The AD 79 eruption was preceded by a [[62 Pompeii earthquake|powerful earthquake in 62]], which caused widespread destruction around the Bay of Naples, and particularly to Pompeii.<ref>{{cite book |last=Martini |first=Kirk |title= Patterns of Reconstruction at Pompeii |date=September 1998 |publisher=Pompeii Forum Project, Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities (IATH), University of Virginia | chapter = 2: Identifying Potential Damage Events |chapter-url=http://www2.iath.virginia.edu/struct/pompeii/patterns/sec-02.html }}</ref> Some of the damage had still not been repaired when the volcano erupted.<ref name= VisitingPompeii /> The deaths of 600 sheep from "tainted air" in the vicinity of Pompeii indicates that the earthquake of AD 62 may have been related to new activity by Vesuvius.{{sfn |Sigurdsson|2002|p=35 | ps =, on Seneca the Younger, ''Natural Questions'', 6.1, 6.27.}}

The Romans grew accustomed to minor earth tremors in the region; the writer [[Pliny the Younger]] even wrote that they "were not particularly alarming because they are frequent in Campania". Small earthquakes started taking place four days before the eruption<ref name=VisitingPompeii>{{cite web | url = http://www.archaeology.co.uk/cwa-2/world-features/visiting-pompeii.htm | title = Visiting Pompeii – AD 79 – Vesuvius explodes | first = Rick | last = Jones | work = Current Archeology | year = 2004–2010 | publisher = Current Publishing | location = London | access-date = 27 May 2010 | url-status=dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120308100010/http://www.archaeology.co.uk/cwa-2/world-features/visiting-pompeii.htm | archive-date = 8 March 2012}}</ref> becoming more frequent over the next four days, but the warnings were not recognized.{{efn|name=fn2|The dates of the earthquakes and of the eruption are contingent on a final determination of the time of year, but there is no reason to change the relative sequence.}}