A Look Back 39 Years After Mount St. Helens Eruption: Photos
TOUTLE, WA — After months of seismic activity, a magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck Mount St. Helens at around 8:30 a.m. on May 18, 1980. The quake triggered a collapse of the north side of the mountain, triggering a debris slide and lahars that rushed across 200 square miles around the mountain.
It was the beginning of what would be the most costly and destructive volcanic eruption on mainland U.S. soil ever.
Next, a plume of ash shot 15 miles into the sky. Within hours, wind carried the ash to Seattle and the rest of the Pacific Northwest soon after. Thousands of animals and 57 people died, and entire forests were flattened. Like a bad snowstorm, the falling ash closed highways around the region, even as far north as I-90 between Seattle and Spokane. The cost of damage exceeded $1 billion.
That eruption wasn’t the last from Mount St. Helens.
The volcano continued to erupt throughout the summer of 1980, followed by small eruptions in 1981, 1989, and 1990. After a swarm of tiny earthquakes in 2004, Mount St. Helens sent a plume about 10,000 feet into the sky. The mountain’s lava dome continued to build through 2008, but St. Helens has been seismically active with small quakes ever since.
Here’s a look back at the 1980 eruption to more modern events.
Dormant since 1857, Mount St. Helens erupts Sunday morning, March 30, 1980, sending a cloud of black smoke and ash more than 16,000 feet into the atmosphere in southwestern Washington. Oregon’s Mount Hood can be seen in background at right. (AP Photo)
Mount St. Helens, an active volcano since March 27, stands silent against the skyline Friday, April 4, 1980 after erupting for a short time. This view looking North features Mount Rainier, Washington’s tallest mountain in the background. Mount St. Helens is 45 miles northeast of Portland. (AP Photo)
In this May 18, 1980 file photo, Mount St. Helens in Washington state, sends a plume of ash, smoke and debris skyward in a violent eruption. As the 30th anniversary of the eruption approaches on May 18, 2010, scientists are still learning from studying how the area devastated by the blast continues to recover from the eruption. (AP Photo/File)
This area near Spirit Lake at the base of Mount St. Helens takes on a new moon-like form following the eruption and massive mud flows of from Mount St. Helens, Tuesday, May 20, 1980 in Washington state. At least six persons are dead and many more missing. (AP Photo)
Bob Brown, right and John Brown, are shown May 19, 1980 climbing onto railroad car, center, heads down the train along with two additional would be horse rescuers, giving up their efforts as they flee for their lives as flood waters from the Toutle River begin a sudden rise. All four people reached safety but the horses are presumed to have drowned. (AP Photo/Gary Stewart)
George Barker, of the Skamania County Sheriff Dept., tells residents of homes at Spirit Lake that the road was closed due to earthquakes on nearby Mount St. Helens, March 26, 1980. The mountain has been sealed off in case it does erupt as tremors up to four on the Richter scale have been occurring in past days. (AP Photo/Barry Sweet)
A new steam and ash eruption from Mount St. Helens, captures the colors of early morning sunlight as seen from Castle Lake Viewpoint in southwest Washington Sunday, Oct. 10, 2004. The volcano is sporting a new coat of snow after several days of blustery, wintery weather. (AP Photo/Don Ryan)
A reporter, left, and a Washington State geologist walk toward the crater of Mount St. Helens in May 1981, almost one year after the volcano exploded causing dramatic destruction for miles around. The two walk toward the steaming lava dome and the snow-covered crater wall beyond. (AP Photo/Gary D. Stewart)
An information board explains some of the properties of the volcano at the Johnston Ridge Observatory at Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument, Friday, May 14, 2010, near Toutle, Wash., where behind is the huge open crater left from a blast nearly three decades ago. Tuesday will mark the 30th anniversary of the big eruption of May 18, 1980, that killed 57 people, knocked down a forest, filled local rivers with mudflows and rained ash far downwind. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)