Mt St Helens, a volcano in Washington State, had a huge eruption on May 18, 1980. The eruption caused billions of dollars in damage, and 57 people were killed. Far from the worst volcanic eruption on record, but one of shocking. .
Mt St Helens Eruption
Mt St Helens had been dormant for a lot more than a century, but in March 1980, earthquakes started to shake the mountain. Close monitoring began at that point. An earthquake with a magnitude above 5 on the Richter scale hit the volcano. It triggered a landslide on the North face, which provided an outlet for the intense heat and pressure inside the volcano. The side of the mountain exploded, sending super heated gases, magma, rock and other debris out of the side of the volcano.
The explosion
The pyroclastic (volcanic) blast that ripped through the side of the mountain as a result of the landslide reached the speed of sound. Materials ejected by the blast spread over 20 miles. After the first explosion, 17 further pyroclastic flows belched forth from the bowels of the volcano. Two weeks following the explosion and flows, the pyroclastic material that flowed from the volcano nevertheless was 800 degrees Fahrenheit.
Damages
Material flowed out of the volcano up to 20 miles away. Area rivers were heavily damaged as debris entered the rivers and mud flows began. The volcano spewed forth over a cubic mile of debris. A total of 57 people died; 200 homes, 27 bridges, 15 miles of railroad track and 185 miles of highway were destroyed. President Jimmy Carter flew out to observe the damage and compared it to the surface of the moon.
Continuing affects
An ash cloud was shot 12 miles into the atmosphere. Washington State was covered with ash, with the city of Yakima getting a heavy coat by the next day. The city of Spokane, almost 300 miles away, was plunged into a primordial darkness with 10 feet of visibility. Ash fell as far south as New Mexico and as far east as Minnesota. Airports were forced to ground flights as a result, like the recent Iceland volcano eruptions did. The blast was 1,600 times a lot more powerful than the Hiroshima atomic bomb. The mountain lost over 1,000 feet in height, and a crater was created almost 2. Smaller eruptions and occasional activity still occur. Over $ 1 billion in damage was done by the Mt St Helens eruption. For all her beauty and bounty, Mother Nature is indeed the harshest of mistresses at times.
Article resources
Mt St Helens
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980_eruption_of_Mount_St._Helens
