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N0KFQ > TODAY 18.05.12 16:36l 60 Lines 2786 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 22551_KB0WSA
Read: GUEST
Subj: Today in History - May 18
Path: IZ3LSV<IK6ZDE<F1OYP<VE2PKT<ZL2BAU<N0KFQ<KB0WSA
Sent: 120518/1522Z 22551@KB0WSA.MO.USA.NA BPQK1.4.50
May 18, 1980:
Mount St. Helens erupts
Mount St. Helens in Washington erupts, causing a massive
avalanche and killing 57 people on this day in 1980. Ash from the
volcanic eruption fell as far away as Minnesota.
Seismic activity at Mount St. Helens, which is 96 miles south of
Seattle, began on March 16. A 4.2-magnitude tremor was recorded
four days later and then, on March 23-24, there were 174
different recorded tremors. The first eruption occurred on March
27, when a 250-foot wide vent opened up on top of the mountain.
Ash was blasted 10,000 feet in the air, some of which came down
nearly 300 miles away in Spokane. The ash caused static
electricity and lightning bolts.
Authorities issued a hazard watch for a 50-mile radius around the
mountain. The National Guard set up road blocks to prevent access
to the area, but these were easily avoided by using the region's
unguarded logging roads. Many residents of the area evacuated,
but a substantial number refused. Harry Truman, 84_no relation to
the former president_was one resident who refused to move and,
after receiving a great deal of positive media coverage for his
decision, became a national icon as well as, later, the subject
of a local memorial.
Throughout April, scientists watched a bulge on the north side of
Mount St. Helens grow larger and larger. Finally, on May 18 at
8:32 a.m., a sudden 5.1-magnitude earthquake and eruption rocked
the mountain. The north side of the peak rippled and blasted out
ash at 650 miles per hour. A cloud of ash, rocks, gas and glacial
ice roared down the side of the mountain at 100 mph. Fourteen
miles of the Toutle River were buried up to 150 feet deep in the
debris. Magma, at 1,300 degrees Fahrenheit, flowed for miles.
The 24-megaton blast demolished a 230-square-mile area around the
mountain. Geologist Dave Johnson was the closest to the eruption
when it blew. He was on his radio that morning and was only able
to say, Vancouver, Vancouver, this is it! before his truck was
pushed over a ridge and he was killed.
Millions of trees were scorched and burned by the hot air alone.
When the glacier atop the mountain melted, a massive mudslide
wiped out homes and dammed up rivers throughout the area. The
plume of ash belched out for nine hours; easterly winds carried
it across the state and as far away as Minneapolis, Minnesota.
The falling ash clogged carburetors and thousands of motorists
were stranded. Fifty-seven people died overall from suffocation,
burns and other assorted injuries. Twenty-seven bodies, including
that of the stubborn Harry Truman, were never found. Mount St.
Helens went from 9,600 feet high to only 8,300 feet high in a
matter of seconds.
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ KB0WSA.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: n0kfq@winlink.org
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