30th Anniversary of Mount St. Helens eruption - Pictures & Facts

The 30th anniversary of the unforgettable massive landslide in the US history, Mount St. Helens eruption was celebrated on May 18, 2010. You can see pictures and facts of Mount St. Helens eruption below.

Numerous city and county governments, federal agencies, community groups and businesses has prepared for season-long series of exciting events and educational programs. The 30th anniversary year brings national and international focus on Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument. Visitors to Johnson Ridge Observatory, situated at the base of the volcano will benefit from new interpretive exhibits and audio, language and translations capability updates. There were many additional events planned on the mountain from which many places in surrounding counties in the state of Washington and Oregon will participate with diverse activities, programs and featured locations.

Before thirty years, on May 18, 1980 Mount St Helens of Washington state blew its top, raining tons of debris in the nearby area at 8:32:17 a.m. on Sunday. The bulging north flank of Mount St. Helens slid away in a massive landslide. This stratovolcano is considered as one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the country. Then in within minutes, the uncorked volcano exploded and blasted rocks northward across forest crests and valleys, destroying everything in its path.

Mount St Helens poses a triple threat since it is highly active situated near major metropolitan areas and has violent eruptions. The United State Geological Survey (USGS) regularly oversees 169 volcanoes. According to government estimates, if Mount St. Helens were to erupt again, then about 30,000 foot plume could develop in just five minutes, grounding aircraft, wreaking havoc on agriculture, water and power supplies, and human health. With just 7 days of warning, slight eruption occurred in 2004.

By more than 1300 feet, the 1980 eruption lowered the elevation of the mountain. Due to this eruption there were 57 people died, and 250 homes were destroyed. After the event, Montana and Northern Wyoming’s people keep in mind the ash fallout that lasted for several weeks. For respiratory problems Public health officials warned of the potential, though most area residents found the biggest concern was simply the thin, gray talcum-like ash which covered almost everything in each morning, and kept carwashes busy.

The retired director of the University of Washington's Pacific Northwest Seismic Network, Malone, called the 1980 Mount St. Helens blast as "baptism by fire" for him and his colleagues. He said, "Here in the Pacific Northwest we had little experience with volcanoes in our backyard. We had to transition very quickly from being a pure research institute to one whose work had real value to public safety."

Hydrologist and outreach specialists of the Cascades Volcano Observatory, Carolyn Driedger said, “The spectacular nature of the May 18, 1980 eruption is one of those unforgettable time markers for anyone who lived through the effects of the eruption or saw the images through the media.” Carolyn also said, “Thirty years later, people still want to tell you where they were and what they experienced when Mount St. Helens blew. In the Pacific Northwest and around the world, people awoke to the idea of what it meant to live near an active volcano.”

The volcano became and remains a volcanologist’s ideal laboratory. Scientists study for new deposits before they eroded away, and tests new concepts about how volcanoes work, and to try out new tools. Scientists can find out the connections between monitoring signals and impending eruptions with the help of frequent eruptions. During the year 1982, the Cascades Volcano Observatory (CVO) was founded to give timely warning about volcanic unrest and eruption throughout the Cascades. Additional volcanic events and better acknowledgment of areas of interest have resulted in the growth of USGS’ Volcano Hazards Program.

Presently USGS has five volcano observatories like Cascades Volcano Observatory in Washington, the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, the Long Valley Observatory in California, the Yellowstone Observatory, and the Alaska Volcano Observatory. Now it hosts an international response unit named the Volcano Disaster Assistance Program (VDAP), which also provides help to other countries respond to volcanic unrest within their borders.

An earthquake specialist of CVO, Seth Moran said, “Since the numerous eruptions of Mount St. Helens in the 1980s, volcano monitoring has come a long way.” He added, “In many locations, we’ve essentially gone from having a few instruments placed on a volcano’s flanks to having a broad network of earthquake and deformation monitoring devices feeding us information 24/7. While we’re not able to do this on every volcano, where we can, these instruments have given volcanologists unprecedented access to what’s really happening on a volcano, and help greatly in predicting the nature of future activity.”

Cynthia Gardner who is Scientist-in-Charge of CVO said, “Since 1980, we’ve learned how important it is for scientists, public officials and communities to be prepared for an eruption long before the actual event. Proper preparations include sufficient monitoring of the volcano, notification systems, response planning, and community education and preparation.”

Facts of Mount St. Helens:

Mount St. Helens has erupted more frequently than any other volcano in the Cascade Range during the past 4,000 years.
May 18, 1980 Mount St. Helens eruption was the most economically destructive volcanic event in U.S. history.
Before 3,600 years, Native Americans abandoned hunting grounds devastated by an enormous eruption 4 times larger than the eruption on May 18, 1980.
On March 20, 1980, a 4.2 earthquake signaled the reawakening of the volcano after 123 years.
Spring 1980: Rising magma pushed the volcano's north flank outward 5 feet per day.
The largest landslide in recorded history reduced the summit by 1,300 feet and triggered a lateral blast in the morning of May 18, 1980. In 3 minutes, the blast was traveling at over 300 mph, blew down and scorched 230 square miles of forest. A vertical plume of ash rose more than 80,000 feet in just 15 minutes.
The volcanic ash cloud drifted east across the United States in 3 days and circled Earth in 15 days.
Mudflows damaged or destroyed 27 bridges and 250 homes.
This largest eruption was not the only big eruption of 1980: explosive eruptions on May 25, June 12, July 22, Aug. 7, and Oct. 16-18 rocked Mount St. Helens and sent ash to distant communities. Only the one on May 25 dropped significant amount of ash on the Kelso-Longview area.
Over the course of 17 episodes, lava eruptions began filling the crater, building a lava dome that reached 876 feet above the crater floor during October 1980 to 1986.
Since 1986, snow and rock accumulating in the deep, shaded crater formed Crater Glacier, the youngest glacier on Earth.
Mount St. Helens reawakened in September 2004, and it erupted continuously until January 2008. During this time a second lava dome displaced and then divided Crater Glacier into east and west lobes.
Mount St. Helens settled one half inch due to magma withdrawal beneath the volcano, like a balloon shrinking from air release during the 2004 to 2008 eruptions.
During the 1980 to 1986 and the 2004 to 2008 eruptions, lava oozed on the crater floor, building domes taller than the Empire State Building and restoring 7% of the volume the mountain lost in 1980.