Volcano and United States Essay

Submitted By shyannetorres101
Words: 453
Pages: 2

At 8:32am on Sunday, May 18, 1980; Mount Saint Helens had erupted and spudded out volcanic ash, steam, and water. Mount Saint Helens is located in the southwestern location of Washington State in the United States in North America. Located 51 miles north of Portland, Oregon and 184 miles south of Seattle, Washington, Mount Saint Helens was caught on camera at the time it erupted that Sunday morning. When the mountain erupted, it did not go out the top of the mountain, but blew out the northwest side of the mountain making the mountain a horseshoe shape. A small town named Cougar, Washington located 11 miles away from the volcano, was the closest town to the mountain that was hit when the mountain erupted. Mount Saint Helens has erupted hundreds of times over 4000 years with the most recent being July 10, 2008.

Located on the Juan de Fuca and North American continental plates, when one of the plates went underneath the other plate, it created a 5.1 earthquake that started the process for the eruption of Mount Saint Helens. The volcanic eruption took 57 lives including Mr. Harry Truman who lived on the mountain refusing to leave because his lodge was all he had and he needed to stay back to take care of his place and David Johnston, a United States Geological Survey Volcanologist (someone who studies volcanos) who was on the mountain that morning surveying the area due to the plates subducting in earlier days causing small earthquakes in the area. Mr. Johnston was last heard from the morning calling into USGS in Portland, Oregon letting them know this is it, the mountain is erupting. His body was