Mt St Helens

The United States contains in its history the most significant volcanic eruption to occur in the lower forty-eight states. When Mount St. Helen’s erupted, the effects were seen by many, and scientists were fascinated with learning about the volcano. Much research was conducted looking into the economic, ecological, and personal aspects of the eruption. Mount St. Helens proves to be a memorable landmark to all Americans and still a source of fascination today for a variety of persons.

Mount Saint Helens, an active stratovolcano, is located in southwest Washington State. The volcano erupted on May 18th, 1980 at 8:32 a.m. The eruption was triggered by a 5.1 earthquake centered beneath the mountain (Mount). People 200 miles away later said they heard a thunderous roar (St.). Mount St. Helens was 9,677 feet high before the eruption and 8,363 after (Eruption). Because of the eruption, the largest landslide in recorded history swept down the mountain as speeds of 70 to 150 miles per hour and buried the North Fork of the Toutle River under and average of 150 feet of debris (Mount). The lateral blast swept out of the north side of the mountain at 300 miles per hour devastating a fan-shaped area 23 miles across and 19 miles long. About 230 square miles of forest were knocked down within an 8-mile inner-fan