SKAMANIA COUNTY, Wash. — Sunday, May 18 marks 45 years since the disastrous eruption of Mount St. Helens.
Fifty-seven people were killed and it remains the deadliest volcanic eruption in U.S. history.
At 8:32 a.m. on May 18, 1980, an earthquake triggered the largest landslide in recorded history, setting off massive explosions blasting rocks, ash, volcanic gas and steam upward and outward.
An 80,000-foot plume of ash darkened skies even hundreds of miles from the volcano, and the eruption destroyed hundreds of homes and leveled 185 miles of highway.
The lateral blast took off the top 1,300 feet of the volcano. Winds blew 520 million tons of ash across the country.
What we’ve learned
The disaster gave scientists a way to develop monitoring tools, improving their ability to predict eruptions and save lives.
Scientists expect Mount St. Helens to probably erupt again this century.
In the last few decades, satellite technology has improved dramatically, helping scientists detect movements in the Earth.
A team of researchers started an imaging experiment in 2019 to determine how magma gets to the surface.
A United States Geological Survey study shows Washington has four high-threat volcanoes.
The only state with more is Alaska, which has five.
Mount St. Helens has the second-highest overall threat level of any volcano studied. Mount Rainier comes right behind it, then Glacier Peak and Mount Baker.
PHOTOS: Memories of Mount St. Helens over the years
The Victims (as reported by The Columbian)
- Reid Turner Blackburn, 27, Vancouver
- Wallace Norwood Bowers, 41, Winlock
- Joel K. Colten, 29, Wyncote, Pa.
- Ronald Lee Conner, 43, Tacoma
- Terry A. Crall, 21, Longview
- Clyde Andrew Croft, 37, Roy
- Ellen Dill, 53, Kirkland
- Robert William (Bill) Dill, 61, Kirkland
- Arlene H. Edwards, 37, Portland
- Jolene H. Edwards, 19, Portland
- Bruce Edward Faddis, 26, Sisters, Ore.
- James F. Fitzgerald Jr., 32, Puyallup
- Thomas G. Gadwa, 35, Montesano
- Allen R. Handy, 34, Puyallup
- Paul Hiatt
- David A. Johnston, 30, Menlo Park, Calif.
- Day Andrew Karr, 11, Renton
- Day Bradley Karr, 37, Renton
- Michael Murray Karr, 9, Renton
- Bob M. Kasewater, 39, Portland
- Christy Liann Killian, 20, Vader
- John G. Killian, 20, Vader
- Harold (Butch) Kirkpatrick, 33, Newberg, Ore.
- Joyce M. Kirkpatrick, 33, Newberg, Ore.
- Robert E. Landsburg, 48, Portland
- Robert Lynds, 25, Kelso
- Gerald O. Martin, 64, Concrete
- Jose A. Dias Miranda, 33, Mount Angel, Ore.
- Jerome Lloyd Moore, 45, Kelso
- Keith A. Moore, 37, Mossyrock
- Shirley A. Moore, 49, Kelso
- Kevin Christopher Morris (Siebold), 7, Olympia
- Michelle Lea Morris, 9, Olympia
- Edward Joseph Murphy, 62, Renton
- Eleanor Jeanne Murphy, 57, Renton
- Donald R. Parker, 45, Westport, Ore.
- Jean Isabell Parker, 56, Portland
- Natalie Allison Parker, 50, Westport, Ore.
- Richard A. Parker, 28, Shelton
- William Paul Parker, 46, Portland
- Merlin James Pluard, 60, Toledo
- Ruth Kathleen Pluard, 56, Toledo
- Fred D. Rollins, 58, Hawthorne, Calif.
- Margery Ellen Rollins, 52, Hawthorne, Calif.
- Paul F. Schmidt, 29, Silverton, Ore.
- Barbara Lea Seibold, 33, Olympia
- Ronald Dale Seibold, 41, Olympia
- Donald James Selby, 48, Everett
- Evlanty V. Sharipoff, 41, Mount Angel, Ore.
- Leonty V. Skorohodoff, 30, Mount Angel, Ore.
- Dale Thayer, 36, Kelso
- Harry R. Truman, 83, Spirit Lake
- James S.Tute, 56, Mission, British Columbia
- Velvetia (Velvet) Tute, 52, Mission, B.C.
- Karen Marie Varner, 21, Longview
- Beverly C. Wetherald, 34, Portland
- Klaus Zimmerman, 27, Spokane
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