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"The sea appeared to have shrunk into itself, as if pushed back by the tremors of the earth...the banks had widened, and many sea creatures were beached on the sand. In the other direction gaped a horrible black cloud torn by sudden bursts of fire in snake-like flashes, revealing elongated flames similar to lightning but larger. And then came the ashes..."
—Eyewitness report of Pliny the Younger on the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius, 79 AD
