Mt. Saint Helens

This incredible photograph was taken during the 1980 eruption of Mt. Saint Helens. Before this great eruption, Mt. Saint Helens was the 5th highest peak in Washington at 9,677 feet. After the eruption, Mt. Saint Helens was 8,363 feet high, a loss of 1,314 feet. This was the largest eruption in recorded history. This rather large eruption was triggered by a 5.1 earthquake 1 mile below the volcano.

 

Below is a profile view of Mt. Saint Helens during the eruption. The bottom of these two diagrams show what the size of the volcano used to be compared to the size after the eruption.

 

To the right is a map of the ash fallout in the U.S. after the 1980 eruption. The ash column reached 12 miles into the atmosphere just 10 minutes after the eruption. The ash eventually encircled the entire earth in just 15 days.

Mt. Saint Helens is a relatively young volcano compared to the other volcanoes in the Cascade mountain range (~40,000-50,000 years old) and is obviously a very active volcano. Just like Rainier, we are constantly monitering the volcano for any seismic activity. To see the current seismicity of Mt. Saint Helens, click here.

To see a general fact sheet and other intriguing pictures, as well as learn more about Mt. Saint Helens, click here.

 

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