Mt St Helens Research Paper

Mount Saint Helens On the day of May 18, 1980 at 8:32 a.m., one of the most deadly and economically destructive volcanic eruption took place. This eruption was from Mount Saint Helens located almost one hundred miles south of Seattle, Washington. The famous eruption killed fifty-seven people, destroyed two hundred fifty homes, forty-seven bridges, fifteen miles of railways and one hundred eighty-five miles of highway. Mount Saint Helens had been dormant for the past one hundred twenty-three years. The volcano was also a strato-volcano. The volcano is part of the Cascade Volcanic Arc. A volcanic arc is a chain of volcanos formed over a subduction plate. The Cascade Volcanic Arc is a major range of volcanoes stretching all the way from British, …show more content…
The small earthquakes indicating magma flow. In late March, a phreatic eruption took place. A phreatic eruption is an explosion of steam caused by magma heating groundwater. Many more earthquakes with magnitudes as high as 5.1 on the Richter scale continued. By the end of April, the side of the mountain started to bulge out due to magma pushing up the pipe. The earthquake that caused the volcano to erupt was a magnitude 5.1 earthquake. The entire north face slid away due to the earthquake causing the largest landslide ever recorded. The earthquake exposed the molten rock in the volcano to lower pressures, soon the rock exploded. Mount Saint Helens was now …show more content…
The eruption of Mount Saint Helens was the most deadly and economically destructive volcano in history in the United States. There were fifty-seven people killed, destroyed two hundred fifty homes, forty-seven bridges, fifteen miles of railways and one hundred eighty-five miles of highway destroyed. Hundreds of square miles were turned into wastelands and thousands of animals were killed. The damage costed the U.S. $2.8 billion dollars. People living near the eruption also suffered not only financially but reported having trouble sleeping, depression, and some even getting post-traumatic stress disorder. The land was later preserved as it was and called the Mt. Saint Helens National Volcanic Monument. Most insects and plants were also wiped out. The ash from the eruption created problems with transportation, the water systems, and sewage. Airplanes were also set back due to being blinded by ash in some areas. Around nine hundred thousand tons of ash was removed from highways and airports in Washington. The ash removal costed two point two million dollars and took about ten