The eruption of St Helens

Mount St Helens is a volcano located in Skamania County in the US state of Washington. In 1980, it erupted so violently that it caused the biggest landslide in history.

In 1980, the volcano had been inactive for around 130 years. However, as several small earthquakes happened near the surface of the earth, geologists thought that an eruption was on the way. As small eruptions occurred within two months after the first small earthquakes, the scientists became sure that the volcano had become active again.

The main eruption happened on 18 May 1980 as scientists and photographers had positioned themselves in places around the volcano to record the incident. It was so big that it ripped apart the northern face of the mountain and caused a huge flow of ash, rocks and hot gas towards Spirit Lake. The hot gas flow burnt and ripped off trees from their roots and dumped them on the surface of the lake.

About 57 people, including famous photographers and a geologist, died in the eruption. It caused about 1 billion dollars of property damage and deposited volcanic ash in 11 states and 5 Canadian provinces. The footage recorded by Dave Crockett while escaping from Mount St Helens after its eruption is one of the most famous tapes you can find online.