Mount St. Helens
Natural Disasters
These images show the area around Mount St. Helens, in southwestern Washington, before and after its eruption of May 18, 1980. In these false-color images, forest appears as bright red interspersed with patches of logging. Snow appears white, and ash is gray.
The cities of Vancouver, Washington, and Portland, Oregon, are visible in the southwest of the zoomed-out images, north and south of the Columbia River, respectively.
Location
Sept. 15, 1973, Landsat 1 (path/row 49/28) — Mount St. Helens, Washington, USA
May 22, 1983, Landsat 4 (path/row 46/28) — Mount St. Helens, Washington, USA
Aug. 31, 1988, Landsat 5 (path/row 46/28) — Mount St. Helens, Washington, USA
Aug. 10, 1992, Landsat 5 (path/row 46/28) — Mount St. Helens, Washington, USA
Aug. 22, 1999, Landsat 7 (path/row 46/28) — Mount St. Helens, Washington, USA
Aug. 20, 2013, Landsat 8 (path/row 46/28) — Mount St. Helens, Washington, USA
July 30, 2017, Landsat 8 (path/row 46/28) — Mount St. Helens, Washington, USA
Aug. 23, 2020, Landsat 8 (path/row 46/28) — Mount St. Helens, Washington, USA
Mount St. Helens, Washington, USA Additional Imagery & Stories
The Eruption
The volcanic blast on May 18, 1980, devastated more than 150 square miles of forest within a few minutes. In the following nine hours, volcanic ash ro...
References
Decker, Robert, and Decker, Barbara, 1981, The Eruptions of Mount St. Helens: Scientific American, March, v. 244, no. 3, p. 68–80.
Findley, Rowe, 1981, Mount St. Helens—Mountain With a Death Wish: National Geographic Magazine, v. 159, no. 1, p. 3–33.
Findley, Rowe, and Raymer, Steve, 1981, Mount St. Helens aftermath: National Geographic Magazine, v. 160, no. 6, p. 713–733.
Foxworthy, Bruce L., and Hill, Mary, 1982, Volcanic eruptions of 1980 at Mount St. Helens—the first 100 days: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1249, 125 p.
Hays, W.W., (ed.), 1981, Facing Geologic and Hydrologic Hazards—Earth Science Considerations: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1240-B, 108 p. (Also available online at http://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/1240b/report.pdf.)
Hoblitt, Richard P., 1986, Observations of the eruptions of July 22 and August 7, 1980, at Mount St. Helens, Washington: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1335, 44 p. (Also available online at http://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/1335/report.pdf.)
Lipman, Peter, W., and Mullineaux, Donal, R., (eds.), 1981, The 1980 Eruptions of Mount St. Helens, Washington: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1250, 844 p. (Also available online at http://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/1250/report.pdf.)
Tilling, Robert I., Topinka, Lyn, and Swanson, Donald A., 1990, Eruptions of Mount St. Helens: Past, Present, and Future: U.S. Geological Survey, available at http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Volcanoes/MSH/Publications/MSHPPF/MSH_past_present_future.html. (Accessed July 17, 2012.)
Thanks to Edward W. Wolfe, USGS, for assistance.