Mount St. Helens

 

Mount St. Helens is an active stratovolcano located in Washington, United States. It is known for the deadly 1980 eruption which was one of the most destructive volcanic events in the United States recorded history. Mount St. Helens is geologically young compared to other major Cascade volcanoes.

Location: Washington, United States
Coordinates: 46.191907, -122.195406
Volcano Type: Stratovolcano

 

Mount St. Helens’s Location

 

Mount St. Helens’s Latest Status

2024: Current Volcano Alert Level: NORMAL

 

Mount St. Helens’s Eruptive History

1980 March: Seismic activity and ash/steam emissions. Smaller eruptions continued. April: The north side of the Mount St Helens started to bulge (out about 450 feet (140 m)), however seismicity ceased. May: On May 18, a second earthquake triggered a collapse of the north side. The collapse caused a depressurisation of the the magmatic system and triggered lateral blasts, devastating an area nearly 30km wide. Shortly after, a second explosion occurred at the summit generating an ash cloud to 12 miles (19 km). A number of fast moving lahars were also generated.
2004 Magma reaches the surface, creating a new lava dome.
2005 The lava dome continued to grow. Steam and ash plume to 11km.
2006 Collapse of the lava dome creates small ash plume.
2016 Swarm of earthquakes recorded suggesting a small amount of fresh magma is rising.
2023 Elevated seismicity, but Alert Level remains at normal.

 

Mount St. Helens Monitoring

For monitoring of United States Volcanoes, please refer to USGS.

 

Mount St. Helens Images