Mt. St. Helens seen from Coldwater Ridge by junge1

Photography • Landscape • posted on Jun 20, 2009

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Description

Coldwater Ridge is 5 miles northwest of the crater of Mount St. Helens. Prior to the eruption, volcanic activity increased on the mountain and a dome of upwelling lava began to form on the north inside of the crater. The dome grew by 6-ft. daily. On 18 May 1980 at 08:32, a Sunday, an earthquake of a 5.1 magnitude on the Richter scale below the crater triggered a catastrophic explosion. At the time a U.S.Geologic Survey volcanologist, David Johnston, was monitoring the activity. The catastrophic explosion blew laterally to the northwest toward Coldwater Rigde. The superheated ash, rock, melted ice and trees were blown at a speed of over 500mph toward the ridge. David Johnston had enough time to report the event. His remains were never found, but the film, recording this event survived. The crater visible in this picture is 1 mile across. The explosion reduced the mountain from 9,677-ft (2950m) in height to 8,365-ft (2550m). The debris avalanche of 0.7 cubic miles (2.9 cubic kilometers) devastated an area of 229 square miles (596 square kilometers). The Mount St. Helens eruption has been the most destructive in U.S. history. This picture was taken from Coldwater Ridge (now Johnston Ridge) on 20 May 2009. Thank you for viewing, commenting and favs, Sig....

Comments (43)

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DennisReed

6:15PM | Sun, 21 June 2009

Awesome!

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jocko500

7:03PM | Sun, 21 June 2009

what force nature has. cool shot

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danapommet

8:30PM | Sun, 21 June 2009

Outstanding pano Sig. Moving site. Dana

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auntietk

10:27PM | Sun, 21 June 2009

I was living in Port Angeles at the time, heard the explosion, and swept a thin film of ash off the deck railing. Gosh ... that was so long ago, it seems like another lifetime! I was 22 years old. It's hard to believe! This is a great image, my friend. You've clearly captured the awesome power of nature!

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