Mount St. Helens is located in southwestern Washington, it's about 50 miles northeast of Portland Oregon. Mount St. Helens got its name by Captain George Vancouver of the British Royal Navy in 1792 in honor of Baron St. Helens, the British ambassador to Spain.
Mount St. Helens is a composite volcano. Sometimes they tend to erupt explosivley and pose considerable danger to near-by property. The May 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens was the largest landslide in recorded history removing 1,300 feet of the volcanos summit. The vertical ash eruption rose to nearly 16 miles into the earth's atmosphere. The wind accelerated to speeds greater than 650 miles per hour, and blew down enough trees to build over 300,000 two bedroom homes. After the eruption the ash fell-500 million tons of it, practicly enough to bury a football field to a depth of 150 miles. A lava dome was formed after the first eruption . It will be the part of the volcano to blow up next time. Since the first eruption Mount St. Helens has erupted three times.
Fallen rocks from inside the mountian.
This is the
mudflow in the Toutle River Valley.Harry Truman died in the blast.