Mount St. Helens - Pictures During and after

      Mount St. Helens Eruption - May 18, 1980 8;32 am                                      

Mount St. Helens erupted on May 18, 1980 in Skamania County, Wash. It was the deadliest eruption in U.S. history, killing 57 people. (left) Jim Valance, Cascades Volcano Observatory, U.S. Geological Survey (right)

Mount Saint Helens erupts. USGS via Earth Science World Image Bank (above)

Mount St. Helens sends a plume of ash, smoke and debris skyward. The eruption blasted more than 1,300 feet off the mountain's peak. Jack Smith, AP

The Initial Blast  (right) The mushroom cloud of volcanic ash produced by the eruption, as seen from Toledo, Washington, 35 miles away. The cloud was roughly 40 miles wide and 15 miles high.

Ash cloud as seen from space (below)
from Weather Satellite GOES-3 at 1545 UTC

map of eruption depostits

Sequence of events on May 18