Mount St. Helens 1980

The Cataclysmic Eruption
Reid Blackburn's car after the May 18 eruption, 8.3 miles northwest of the volcano (USGS)
Aerial view of May 18 eruption (USGS)
Reid Blackburn's body found entombed in his car at Coldwater I (USGS)
Weyerhaeuser Company crummy buried in mudflows from the eruption (USGS)
Northwest view of a phreatic eruption in the months before the big blast (USGS)
A steam blast from the Mount St. Helens crater on April 6, 1980 Aerial view to the southwest (USGS)
Coldwater I observation post where Reid Blackburn was eventually stationed (USGS)
David Johnston using a corrolation spectrometer to measure gas emissions from St. Helens (USGS)
David Johnston watching the ominiously growing bulge on St. Helens' flank from Coldwater II observation post (USGS)
The last photo ever taken of USGS geologist David Johnston at Coldwater II, the day before the big eruption (USGS)
Northeastern view of the growing bulge on the north flank of the volcano (USGS)
Aerial view of the growing bulge on the northern slope of St. Helens before the May 18 eruption (USGS)
Southern view of the eruption (USGS)
Ash cloud hovering over Ephrata, Washington, 145 miles downwind of the volcano, on May 18, 1980 (USGS)