There's something majestic
about these cones
(Photo: Cover; Seismological
Research Letters, Vol. 69 No..3)
Something almost serene in the apparent
stability of these magnificent constructions
Mr Ranier
Photo courtsey of Marty Best, WA State SHMO
As we saw in 1980, this apparent stability is an apparition only
Photo to the right is of the Mt. Saint Helens eruption in Washington State.
On May 18, 1980, for the first time since the arrival of the Europeans to this continent, the mountain moved !!
Photo: National Geographic
(Mt Saint Helens "Volcano Cam (and much more)
Mount Saint Helens: Pre-eruption
Mount Saint Helens: Today
The explosion was 500 times the punch of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.
It "blew its top off". 1300 feet, that is.
The first eruption (a minor one) was felt on March 27, 1980.
Within a week, 18 people died and 71 were missing. In total, 75 died.
Yakima, a town 85 miles east of the eruption, experienced "midnight at noon" due to the ash.
President Carter declared the scene a federal disaster area.
Rocks were found in Montana, 400 miles away.
Housewives were told to use only detergents when washing clothes (soap might mix with the water and form sludge, clogging
the wash machines).
The eruption could be seen from 30 miles away.
Trees worth at least $1 billion were flattened.
Crops within 3 miles of the crater were destroyed.
8 tons of ash per acre fell in the area of Idaho.
Ritzville, Washington had 5 inches of dust dumped on it and 2-5 foot drifts.
On the east coast, there were bits of the ash cloud that was carreid by the wind and reddish sunsets due to the dust.
