Could Mt. St. Helens Be Ready to Erupt Again?
An interesting news story came out last week that many may not have seen is revealing that scientists believe that magma is rising in Mt. St. Helens and that an eruption may be in the works. It has been 34 years since Mt. St. Helen’s erupted in Washington State and this area saw the effects of that eruption. On May 18,1980, the volcano, which had been dormant for over 100 years, did its thing. It exploded with such ferocity that researchers say it was 500 times as powerful as the Hiroshima bomb. The blast took 130 feet off of the top of the mountain and claimed 57 lives.
For those who remember, the skies in this area began to turn ash grey for a few days after the eruption. The Hannibal and Quincy areas experienced a faint sun for about 48 hours as I recall. There was a layer of dust from the ash deposited in the area from the volcano which made owners of car washes happy but really was an inconvenience for others.
Mt. St. Helen’s has been quiet since until maybe now but just because it’s nowhere near us doesn’t mean we won’t experience its next eruption even in a minor way. Lets hope it waits a few hundred years to do it again. Somebody else will be washing what used to be my car then.