Mt. St. Helen's Volcanic Ash
Mt. St. Helen's Volcanic Ash
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The ash inside this capsule was violently blasted from Mount St. Helens during the most catastrophic volcanic event in U.S. history.
On the morning of May 18, 1980, after weeks of minor tremors, a magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck Washington State. This quake triggered the largest landslide ever recorded, according to the USGS, and set off a massive lateral explosion from the side of the mountain.
The eruption was rated a 5 on the Volcanic Explosivity Index, making it one of the biggest eruptions of the 20th century. The blast was so powerful that the sound traveled as far as 700 miles away.
The eruption covered nearby areas with debris, avalanches, and mudflows, while forests were scorched and blasted by hot gases. Ash soared 12 miles into the sky, and ashfall was reported as far as 1,500 miles away.
Every volcanic eruption produces ash with a unique makeup—determined by the magma’s chemistry, crystal content, temperature, and dissolved gases. Highly explosive eruptions like this one tend to produce brighter ash, thanks to a higher silica content.
