Mount Saint Helens has begun to erupt. A cloud of white steam is rising from it.

They just showed that on CBS. Wow, deja vu.

Looks like the pressure on the volcanic dome has been relieved... better break out that industrial-sized can of Glade air freshener downwind! ;)

can i just say...

ABOUT DAMN TIME!!!

maybe now we can talk about something else in my env geosci class. we'ver seriously debated for at least 30-45min every week about the possibility and what clues have been given for the stupid mountian to finally blow.

It was a mini burp compared to last time! :)

It's actually had small burps since the 1980 one. 1986 and I believe one other time. In 1980, most of the ash blew east.

I'm just glad it's gone and happened. Maybe now the news will get back to other things......

U.S. Raises Alert for Mount St. Helens
(AP) - Government seismologists raised the alert level for Mount St. Helens on Saturday after its second steam eruption in two days was followed by a powerful tremor. They said the next blast could threaten life and property in the remote area near the volcano. The hundreds of visitors at the Johnston Ridge Observatory just five miles from Mount St. Helens were asked to leave. They went quickly to their cars and drove from the scene.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/fc?cid=3..._and_Volcanoes

Seems to be getting worse and worse.

I just read AOL news ( if you want to call that accurate) it says it may blow within hours.


When i agreed to the earthquake thing earlier i meant it seems it all ties in together because all these natural occurances: hurricanes, earthqueakes, volcanos etc.. seem to be happening at the same time

Couple of doses of vitamin Trident D-5 oughta make Kim Jong Il's tan positively glowing! :D

http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Volcanoes/..._8march05.html



*******************************************
http://kron.com/Global/story.asp?s=2354349
Posted: September 27, 2004 at 11:58 a.m.

SEATTLE (AP) -- Seismologists believe there's an increased likelihood of a hazardous event at Mount St. Helens due to a strengthening series of earthquakes at the volcano.

"The key issue is a small explosion without warning. That would be the major event that we're worried about right now," said Willie Scott, a geologist with the USGS office in Vancouver.

Initially, hundreds of tiny earthquakes that began Thursday morning had slowly declined through Saturday. By Sunday, however, there had been more than 10 temblors of magnitude 2.0 to 2.8, the most in a 24-hour period since the last dome-building eruption in October 1986, Scott said.

The quakes have occurred at depths less than one mile below the lava dome within the mountain's crater. Some of the earthquakes suggest the involvement of pressurized fluids, such as water or steam, and perhaps magma.

Mount St. Helens is about 55 miles northeast of Portland, Ore.

A group of scientists planned to visit the mountain Monday and conduct a flyover to test for carbon dioxide and sulfur gases, which could suggest the involvement of magma. They'll also erect additional seismic sensors and sophisticated global positioning devices to measure activity.

In the event of an explosion, Scott said the concern would be focused on the area within the crater and the flanks of the volcano. It's possible that a five-mile area primarily north of the volcano could receive flows of mud and rock debris.

That portion of the mountain blew out during the May 18, 1980, eruption that left 57 people dead, devastating hundreds of square miles around the peak and spewing ash over much of the Northwest.

"We haven't had a swarm of earthquakes at Mount St. Helens since 2001," state seismologist Tony Qamar said. "Clearly something new is happening."

Qamar said if an eruption did occur it would possibly involve ash and steam, called phreatic eruptions.

The cause and outcome of the swarm were uncertain Sunday evening.

"There's been no explosions, there's no outward sign that anything is occurring. This is all based on the pattern of earthquake activity that is occurring below the dome," said Scott.

Experts believe there is "an increased probability of explosions from the lava dome if the level of current unrest continues or escalates," USGS and the University of Washington Pacific Northwest Seismograph Network in Seattle said in a joint statement.

A similar swarm of quakes in November 2001 and another in the summer of 1998 did not result in an eruption. However, the quakes could increase the likelihood of small rock slides from the 876-foot-tall lava dome within the mountain's crater.

In the 1986 eruption, magma reached the surface and added to the pile of lava on the crater floor.

(Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

U.S. Geological Survey
http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Imgs/Jpg/M...-08-05_med.jpg

March 8, 2005

The principal event lasted about 30 minutes, with intensity gradually declining throughout. The resulting plume was mostly white or light colored as viewed in the Pacific Northwest sunset, which is the basis for our preliminary assessment that steam was the predominant component. Even so, light dustings of ash are expected on the flanks of the volcano and are possible as far away as central Washington.


The eruption was photographed by many residents in the Portland-Vancouver metropolitan area. Images on a ten-minute sequence were captured by the web cam at the U.S. Forest Service's Johnston Ridge Observatory, 8.5 kilometers (5.2 miles) north of the volcano. We've annotated one of those images from late in the sequence, for the benefit of readers who browse to the U.S. Forest Service website.

Here's a live webcam shot - not too much going on right now - of course that last statement won't make much sense if the webcam changes :p

http://www.fs.fed.us/gpnf/volcanocam...volcanocam.jpg