1. Slumbering Giant Slumbering Giant
Before the cataclysmic events of May 1980, Mount St. Helens was a mountain wonderland visited by tourists who found tranquility in its forests and lakes.
Slumbering Giant
Mount St. Helens is an active volcano in the western part of the Cascade Mountain Range in Washington State. Before 1980, the mountain looked like this. Snow-capped peaks stood over beautiful lakes and forests. Visitors enjoyed great views.
Mount St. Helens
before eruption

2. The Fury Begins The Fury Begins
On the morning of May 18, 1980 everything changed when a strong earthquake started a chain reaction of disaster. Part of the mountain collapsed and hot magma that had collected under Mount St. Helens began to explode. Huge clouds of ash and gas shot into the air and rolled down the mountain. Tragically, 57 people lost their lives.
Cloud of ash and gas
The Fury Begins
After two months of small earthquakes and explosions, the north slope of Mount St. Helens had grown a huge bulge. At 8:32 a.m. on May 18, 1980, the whole north side suddenly shivered and seemed to turn to liquid. As the pressure inside the volcano was reduced, the hot magma down below began to froth and explode.
An avalanche of debris started down the mountain—while, at the same time, a huge column of ash rose thousands of feet in the air. For more information on the eruption of Mt. St. Helens (including the mountain’s current status) visit the Mt. St. Helens National Volcanic Monument website at
Hot magma
Mount St. Helens erupting

3. Tree-Removal Zone Tree-Removal Zone
Mature forests of trees up to 150 ft (50 m) tall were flattened by the blast of the eruption. Closest to the mountain, in the “tree-removal zone,” the ground was scoured of virtually everything.
Tree-Removal Zone
In the area closest to the blast, just about everything was wiped out. Whole forests with 150 foot tall trees were flattened.
Flattened trees

4. Long Night of the Ash Cloud
After lying dormant for 600 years, Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines began erupting in June Huge clouds of ash were thrown into the air, blocking out the sunlight for days. The airborne ash slowly settled out, burying fields and villages for miles around. Over 330 ft (100 m) of ash lay in drifts on the upper slopes of the volcano. Torrential rains followed, causing mud flows that cascaded down the river valleys and roads, bridges, and several villages. At least 400 people were killed and another 400,000 were left homeless.
Long Night of the Ash Cloud
It may look like snow…but it’s not! It’s ash! This is what it looked like after Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines erupted in Huge clouds of ash blocked the sun for days. When the ash finally fell to the ground, it covered everything for miles around.
Ash-buried fields

5. Breathing Easy Breathing Easy
Imagine what it would have been like to be around all that ash! It was hard to breathe. Many people put wet cloths around their nose and mouths to try to keep the ash out of their lungs.
Breathing Easy
With no breathing masks to protect themselves from the gritty ash, many of the survivors developed pneumonia. At the very least, their eyes were badly inflamed by the ashy air. Every step raised fine ash that filled the air. Covering mouth and nose with a wet cloth helped to keep the throat and lungs clear.
People in truck

6. Caught in the Act of Dying
Long, long ago in 79 AD, Mount Vesuvius in Italy erupted and
killed many people in the towns
of Pompeii and Herculaneum.
Amazingly, the ash that
surrounded the victims acted like
cement and preserved their
skeletons for centuries. Scientists
have been able to make casts of
their bodies which helps us
understand the disaster.
Caught in the Act of Dying
Perhaps the most famous eruption of all time shook Mount Vesuvius near Naples in Italy in 79 CE. When the long-dormant volcano erupted on August 24, the residents of the Roman towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum were caught unawares. (The apocalyptic events were described in detail by Pliny the Younger. His famous letters to Tacitus are the first known eyewitness account of a volcanic eruption.)
Over 2,000 people died in Pompeii when the eruption of Mount Vesuvius overwhelmed the Roman town. We know about these Roman citizens from plaster casts that show them at the moment of their death. As the fleeing Pompeiians died, the rain of ash and pumice set around their bodies rather like wet cement. With time, the soft body parts decayed and the ash and pumice turned to solid rock. The shapes of the dead Romans' bodies were left as hollows in the rock. Only the hard bones remained inside the hollows.
Casts of mother and child