Disaster & Disease18 February 1980

1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens

Donald A. SwansonPublic domainWikimedia Commons

On May 18, 1980, at 8:32 a.m., Mount St. Helens in Skamania County, Washington experienced a catastrophic explosive eruption which had a volcanic explosivity index of 5. It was the first to occur in the contiguous United States since the much smaller 1915 eruption of Lassen Peak in California.

Gallery

018MSH eruption001 resize (22039804635) — U.S. Forest Service- Pacific Northwest RegionPublic domainWikimedia Commons

019MSH eruption002 resize (21851940768) — U.S. Forest Service- Pacific Northwest RegionPublic domainWikimedia Commons

020MSH eruption003 resize (22039804375) — U.S. Forest Service- Pacific Northwest RegionPublic domainWikimedia Commons

021MSH eruption004 resize (21851631510) — U.S. Forest Service- Pacific Northwest RegionPublic domainWikimedia Commons

022MSH eruption005 resize (21851631460) — U.S. Forest Service- Pacific Northwest RegionPublic domainWikimedia Commons

023MSH eruption006 resize (22039804265) — U.S. Forest Service- Pacific Northwest RegionPublic domainWikimedia Commons

024the column eruption 05-18-80 resize (21851940368) — U.S. Forest Service- Pacific Northwest RegionPublic domainWikimedia Commons

026MSH80 eruption mount st helens plume 05-18-80 resize (22027450832) — U.S. Forest Service- Pacific Northwest RegionPublic domainWikimedia Commons

S.Res.146 - 109th Congress (2005-2006): A resolution recognizing the 25th anniversary of the eruption of Mount St. Helens. — UnknownUnknown — LoC, rights unverifiedLibrary of Congress

The quiet Mount St. Helens volcano in Washington looms in the distance beyond the burned-out remants of the gigantic eruption of 1980 — UnknownUnknown — LoC, rights unverifiedLibrary of Congress

Key figures

Harry R. Truman

Reid Blackburn Robert Landsburg

David A. Johnston

Where it happened

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