[poinq]

The water. Its on the shore. Also there was north and south. I don’t think anyone survived the town itself. Even if you found shelter and high ground, the gases would have gotten you. And you would have been surrounded by lava that takes weeks to cool.

[grania]

That it's on the shore is an interesting point. Crete and Atlantis (if it isn't Crete) are examples of what happens. Those residents who were out to sea or away from the city for other reasons go elsewhere, since their home no longer exists. In the Canary Islands, there's a real interesting museum inspired by Dag Hammarskjold that shows very nicely how calamities led to the spread of ancient culture.