Publisher's Synopsis
At 08:32, on Sunday, May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens erupted. Shaken by an earthquake measuring 5.1 on the Richter scale, the north face of this tall symmetrical mountain collapsed in a massive rock debris avalanche. Nearly 230 square miles of forest was blown down or buried beneath volcanic deposits. At the same time a mushroom-shaped column of ash rose thousands of feet skyward and drifted downwind, turning day into night as dark, gray ash fell over eastern Washington and beyond. The momentous events of that day are captured using aerial photography, along with survivors' own words and pictures. Two decades later, Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument geologists guide you through the secrets of the mountain.
