While it may appear to humans that the time between eruptions is great, at a geological time scale they erupt with great regularity every few hundred or thousand years. The material brought forth by stratovolcanoes is immensely fertile, and farmers are attracted to the landscapes below stratovolcanoes. However, the hazards of living near a volcano are serious: avalanches of hot volcanic material, landslides of snow and rock, abundant earthquakes, sudden ash falls, and toxic clouds of subterranean gases are all real and present dangers. In Italy, one of the ancient world's most important archaeological sites is the city of Pompeii, where the sudden eruption of Mt. Vesuvius instantly trapped and entombed the people of the Roman village. With the technological improvements of seismic and photographic sensors, humans are now better equipped to predict, or at least provide some advance warning, of upcoming volcanic eruptions.