Mt St Helens Report

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Mt. St. Helens Report Mount Saint Helens erupted on May 18, 1980. The pre-1980 eruptive history of Mount Saint Helens is strongly episodic. Volcanologists has recognized and named four episodes of volcanic activity called "stages." Ape Canyon, Cougar, Swift creek, and Spirit Lake separated by dormant intervals. Before the 1980 eruption, it was a while since Mount Saint Helens had erupted so the residence around the areas had forgotten about the dangers of Mount Saint Helens. People made homes and lives creating families around Mount Saint Helens, taking in the beauty and the scenery, but the 1980 eruption of Mount Saint Helens woke up millions of people around the world. Mount Saint Helens began to grow before the last major glaciation of the Ice Age which ended about 10,000 years ago. The oldest ash deposits were erupted at least 40,000 years ago onto an eroded surface that's still older volcanic and sedimentary rocks. Intermittent volcanism continued after the glaciers disappeared, and nine main pulses of pre-1980 volcanic activity have been recognized. Two months before the big explosion there was a 4.1 magnitude earthquake that hit underneath Mount Saint Helens, then seven days after that a 250 foot hole was in the mountain and released a plume of ash. The entire area was evacuated. Then on May 18, 1980 it happened, 57 people were killed, over 7,000 animals were killed as well. The eruption destroyed entire forest, leaving only brunt tree trunks all flatten in the same direction. The amount of timber destroyed was enough to make 300,000 two-bedroom homes and the mud that traveled down the mountain destroyed about 200 houses and clogging up shipping channels in the Columbia River. The volcano itself change shape, poisonous gas and ash was released from the volcano ash poured down on 15 states within days and gas from the volcano and circled the world. It

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