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Mt. St. Helen

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On May 18, 1980, 35 years prior to today, a quake struck underneath the north face of Mount St. Helens in Washington state, setting off the greatest avalanche in written history and a significant volcanic emission that dispersed powder over twelve states. The sudden horizontal impact, heard many miles away, removed 1,300 feet off the highest point of the volcano, sending shockwaves and pyroclastic streams over the encompassing scene, leveling backwoods, softening snow and ice, and creating monstrous mudflows. Fifty-seven individuals lost their lives in the tragedy (Grisham).
Mt. St. Helen 's was arguably a frontrunner amongst the most beautiful stratovolcanoes in the Cascade Range before its historic eruption on that fateful day in history. The emission formed a huge sidelong impact that crushed the northern flank of the fountain of liquid magma, straightening a great many adult Douglas fir trees over a fan-molded zone of 600 square kilometers. The impact zone was further exposed to a gigantic flotsam and jetsam torrential slide, trailed by the evidence of various lahars and pyroclastic streams. The major physiographic historic points on the guide incorporate the westbound depleting North-and South Forks of the Toutle River, Spirit Lake, and Johnston Ridge. Soul Lake is found 5 kilometers from the summit, as is Johnston Ridge, instantly toward the west of Spirit Lake. Johnston Ridge, previously known as Coldwater Ridge, was named out of appreciation for David Johnston, the

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