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I don't know why I have such a fascination with this Volcano. I just find it very interesting and I like to learn as much as i can about it. This year marked the 20th anniversary of the eruption of Mount St. Helens. The date May 18th 1980 will forever live on. Mount St Helens exploded with a force equivalent to more than 27,000 atomic bombs. In the matter of just a few hours, 234 square miles of forestland were detroyed, and almost all life on the mountain disappeared. In the 20 years since the eruption, the volcano has undergone alot of remarkable changes. I was lucky to get to visit Mount St. Helens in the middle 80s. I cannot explain it but just say it is something everyone should see. I walked where roads once were and i saw houses buried right upto their roofs. I can only imagine what people were thinking or feeling when the Mountain blew.
On May 18th, 1980 at 8:32am Mount St. Helens erupted violently. An earthquake of large magnitude caused and triggered one of the worlds largest recorded landslides. This avalanche caused more than 1,300 feet of the mountains top to fall into the Tourtle River Valley below. The massive landslide released a powerful, laterally - directed blast, destroying 150,000 square acres of forests and killing every living thing above ground. When it was over 57 people had lost their lives and the area resembled a moonscape.
Nearly two decades later, the land blooms once again. Fish are swimming in the lakes and rivers. Wildflowers can be found bending in the mountain breezes. Elk and deer can be found in the hills. |
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