Mount St. Helens, Washington, USA

Abstract

May 18, 1980. Sunrise and a crystal-clear morning. Mount St. Helens was a beautiful, peaceful, snow-capped mountain surrounded by pristine forests and lakes(Fig. 15.1). Yes, it was known to be spitting ash and shaking, but it was still fundamentally the same Mount St. Helens that had for decades been a favorite camping and fishing destination of local residents. At 8:32 a.m. Mount St. Helens turned ugly, unleashing a mind-boggling landslide that left a huge crater where the peak had been and a thick jumble of rock with an average thickness of 150-feet (45.7 m) filling the lush valley that once led to much-beloved Spirit Lake.