Mount Vesuvius Boiled Its Victims' Blood and Caused Their Skulls to Explode

Yes, saw that video.

It's a beautiful example of the shock wave. That blast was a piker though, compared to Pelee and to the original Krakatoa. Also the energy release of a volcano can be a lot more than a nuke. Pinatubo was larger than any nuclear blast on record.

Lots of infrared ... no gamma rays of course. A piston-like displacement of the air that is much larger maybe, and lasts longer? The compression is adiabatic, not a very intuitive concept.

Perhaps a similar situation is explosive compression of a submarine at great depth. When they brought up the Thresher they found scorch marks on the walls from the air being compressed rapidly. The walls caught fire from the air.

With Pelee, they said almost everyone died in seconds. Seems reasonable that the same fate might have happened, at least to some, at Pompeii and Herculaneum.

/r/Archaeology Thread Parent Link - smithsonianmag.com