Footage of the 1980 Mount St. Helens Eruption

On May 18, 1980, the Mount St. Helens became the largest and most destructive volcanic eruption in U.S. history. By the end of its cycle of fire and fury, 57 people had died.

From the Series: Make It Out Alive: Mount St. Helens

[frankbummiii]

A guy gave his life to get sequential photos as the mountain side collapsed. His camera was dug out of the ash along with his body and they are sensational photos that, pieced together, give an incredible view of the mountain side sliding away. And you Smithsonian, didn't use them. Well done.

[dfwprodriver]

My dad was the Sgt. In charge with the Washington State Patrol and personally closed the park on May 17. He spoke to 39 of the 57 people who lost their lives, trying to get them away from the volcano but they were outside of the mandatory evacuation zone. My Dad's Lt. told him to have breakfast with the family and then report for duty. We had waffles and a huge breakfast because we hadn't eaten or spent much time with him due to the volcanic activity. If he had gone into work at his normal time he would have been on the volcano when it erupted. My Dad is and forever will be, my hero.

[olachens]

My grandma, (We live in WA) when she heard the boom of the eruption, said, as a joke, "Mount Saint Helens probably finally blew up." And it had.

[jacknewman]

200 miles away from our home in Seattle, classmates and I on a field trip were trapped for three days in a small town gymnasium. The National Guard rescued us, but not before a local woman walked through the ash storm to bring us food. We called her Volcano Mary, RIP

[albertowen]

My late wife was growing up in 1980 in Montana and she told me a lot about MSH and the eruption. As she put it, "it was dark for days" as a result of the ash floating in the air. I personally had heard about the eruption down here in Florida, and before she died, she told me to watch all the videos about MSH here in her memory. I'm happy I did. Thank you, Sarah. I love you always.

[baker]

My mom was born in Washington in the 70s. She said that she remembers her dad having to shovel ash off of the roof all day to stop their house from collapsing

[freeravenadventures]

Note to self: Never buy property anywhere near a volcano

[leokimvideo]

Over 40 years after the event and much of the devastation area still has no trees growing.

[matthewmaddox]

For how deadly and large the eruption actually is, 57 deaths isn’t bad. Edit: I’m not saying 57 deaths isn’t bad but it could’ve been much more.

[whitehonda]

Scientists: it will likely erupt in a vertical eruption

Mt. St. Helens: *you fools, you fell for one of the classic blunders*

[dougridgway]

I live in a prairie Canadian city 2900 miles away from the blast. I was absolutely amazed as a kid when ash from Mt. St. Hellen’s landed on my street at night. I asked my dad if it was snowing and he told me it was from the valcano that we were watching on the news.

[MarkSmith-jspu]

I distinctly remember all the ash that fell on my car in Kansas City, incredible

[survivalstyle]

The kid in the back of the class with the modded vape

[MrSaturn]

Title: Footage of famous Mt. St. Helens Eruption
Video: three and a half minutes of computer models and ten seconds of cropped video footage

[cellogirlrw]

You forgot to mention David Johnston, for whom Johnston Ridge Observatory was named. That was exactly where he stood on that fateful morning, recording his observations. What a sight that must have been to behold. In his last call to Vancouver to announce the eruption, you can hear the excitement in his voice, even as he is overcome by the pyroclastic flow. He died doing what he loved.

[unseelie]

I visited years after the eruption.The sight of all the leveled trees, the fallen timber still covering a good part of Spirit Lake's surface, the sight of the crater...it's chilling.

[Taijifufu]

Pretty amazing only 57 people died from _that._

[daviddavis-vanatta]

I lived in Ohio when this happened, but originally had gone there from Washington. Professionally, at this time, I reported to a college provost who was a professional Ph.D. geologist, in fact, a vulcanologist. I recall going to the parking lot with him a few days after the eruption, armed with scotch tape, and picking up some of the exceedingly fine, but visible, ash from the eruption that had made it to Ohio. Seeing it highly magnified under polarizing light was beautiful and striking. These tiny particles were gnarly, rough, jagged, looked like they went through a war. Which they did. Very impressive.

[setsu_dubs]

We all know that earth just popped a pimple.

[theprfesssor]

The scary part
When Yellowstone goes if full eruption, it's going to make Mount Saint Helens event look like a firecracker
And this eruption destroyed a side of a mountain