The May 1980 eruption of Mount Saint Helens in Washington state is considered 'Plinian' by scientists, named after the ancient Roman scholar Pliny, the only eyewitness to record the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in August 79 A.D. In other words, the two eruptions were very similar, both characterized by a tremendous explosion that unleashed a column of ash miles into the atmosphere. The area around each crater was scorched with fast-moving, super-heated pyroclastic surges and flows killing everything in their path. All photos on these pages were taken by Tom during the summer of 2003, and we can assume that Vesuvius looked very much the same twenty-three years after it buried Pompeii nearly two thousand years ago.