---
title: "When did Vesuvius last erupt?"
description: "A major eruption during the Allied occupation of Italy, March 1944. What happened, why it has not happened since, and whether it plausibly could again."
url: https://atoneplace.net/the-last-time/vesuvius/
site: "At One Place"
---

# When did Vesuvius last erupt?

**When did Vesuvius last erupt?: March 1944**

A major eruption during the Allied occupation of Italy

The 1944 eruption destroyed several villages and around eighty American aircraft parked at a nearby airfield, which were damaged by falling ash. Vesuvius has been quiet since, which is not reassuring: it has erupted roughly every few decades through recorded history, and around three million people now live within range of it. It is generally considered the most dangerous volcano in the world on that basis alone.

- **What:** A major eruption during the Allied occupation of Italy
- **When:** March 1944
- **Category:** The natural world
- **Could this change?:** Yes. This streak could end, and if it does this page becomes a historical note rather than an answer.

## The natural world

| Question | When |
| --- | --- |
| When did the last thylacine die? | 7 September 1936 |
| When did the last passenger pigeon die? | 1 September 1914 |
| When did the last ice age end? | About 11,700 years ago |
| When did the Earth's magnetic poles last reverse? | About 780,000 years ago |

> This page gives a date and never a "years ago". These pages are built as static files, so a computed interval would freeze at build time and quietly become wrong — which on a reference site is worse than making the reader do the subtraction.

## Common questions

### When did Vesuvius last erupt?

March 1944 — A major eruption during the Allied occupation of Italy.

### What happened?

The 1944 eruption destroyed several villages and around eighty American aircraft parked at a nearby airfield, which were damaged by falling ash. Vesuvius has been quiet since, which is not reassuring: it has erupted roughly every few decades through recorded history, and around three million people now live within range of it. It is generally considered the most dangerous volcano in the world on that basis alone.

### Could it happen again?

Yes. This is one of the entries where the streak could plausibly end, which is stated on the page rather than left implied.

## Related pages

- [When did the last thylacine die?](https://atoneplace.net/the-last-time/thylacine/)
- [When did the last passenger pigeon die?](https://atoneplace.net/the-last-time/passenger-pigeon/)
- [When did the last ice age end?](https://atoneplace.net/the-last-time/ice-age/)
- [When did the Earth's magnetic poles last reverse?](https://atoneplace.net/the-last-time/magnetic-reversal/)
- [When did the US flag last change?](https://atoneplace.net/the-last-time/us-flag-change/)
- [When was a US state last admitted?](https://atoneplace.net/the-last-time/us-state/)
- [When did the Olympics last award medals for art?](https://atoneplace.net/the-last-time/olympic-art/)
- [When were the Olympic Games last cancelled?](https://atoneplace.net/the-last-time/olympics-cancelled/)
- [When did the last thylacine die?](https://atoneplace.net/the-last-time/thylacine/)
- [When did a European country last change calendar?](https://atoneplace.net/the-last-time/calendar-change/)
- [Everything, most recent first](https://atoneplace.net/the-last-time/)

## Sources

- United States Geological Survey — USGS (https://www.usgs.gov/) [Public domain (US Government)]