Research Paper On Mt St. Helens

Words: 327
Pages: 2

On May 18th 1980 Mount St. Helens erupted. This caused a huge explosion, killing 57 people. The eruption also destroyed a lot of land, completely wiping out 230 square miles. This all happened in a matter of minutes. Mount St. Helens is in Washington. It also had one of the most powerful volcanic eruptions in North America. The magnitude of this eruption was 5.1. Immediately following the eruption, temperatures dropped 8 degrees Celsius in Washington due to the volcanic plume. Forests were destroyed and more than 150 new lakes were formed. Existing lakes were filled with sediment.

Mount St. Helens began erupting around 40,000 years ago. Before the eruption, there were a series of earthquakes. There were so many earthquakes that a crack began