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At 8:32 a.m. PDT on May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens, a volcanic peak in southwestern Washington, suffers a massive eruption, killing 57 people and devastating some 210 square miles of wilderness. Called Louwala‑Clough, or “the Smoking Mountain,” by Native Americans, Mount St. Helens is located in the Cascade Range and stood 9,680 feet before its […]

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That's because the Washington State volcano poses a triple threat: Mount St. Helens is one of the most active U.S. volcanoes, its eruptions are highly explosive, and it's situated near major metropolitan centers in the Pacific Northwest (see map), said John Ewert of the U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) Volcano Disaster Assistance Program. (See Mount St. Helens pictures in National Geographic magazine.)

The U.S.-the most volcanically active country after Russia -has 169 volcanoes that the USGS and other agencies regularly monitor. These volcanoes are rated based on eruption frequency and the risks posed to nearby populations, infrastructure, and air traffic, among other factors.

Eighteen of the U.S. volcanoes on the list are deemed "very high threat," with only Hawaii's Kilauea volcano surpassing Mount St. Helens, according to the latest USGS report, released in 2005.

The agency will likely update the most dangerous volcano rankings by 2012, and Ewert thinks Mount St. Helen's status will probably remain the same. (See pictures of Alaska's Redoubt Volcano-the ninth most dangerous in the U.S.-erupting in 2009.)

Although the May 18, 1980, eruption and resulting landslide destroyed much of the volcano's summit area, Mount St. Helens still stands 8,364 feet (2,549 meters) above sea level.

If Mount St. Helens reawakened violently, an ash plume reaching 30,000 feet (about 9,100 meters) or more could materialize in as little as five minutes, grounding aircraft and wreaking havoc on agriculture, water and power supplies, and human health, Ewert said.

Glaciers atop the mountain could also melt and carry volcanic debris down the valley.

For nearby communities-including Seattle and Portland, Oregon -the layers of volcanic ash settling out of the sky would be "just pretty darn unpleasant," he added. "Imagine someone dumping an inch of talcum powder on your house."
Mount St. Helens a "Sneaky" Volcano
Still, Mount St. Helens's 1980 eruption-which killed 57 and flattened more than 200 square miles (518 square kilometers) of forest-"really launched modern volcanology in a lot of ways. That's one of its lasting legacies," Ewert added.

For instance, the blast prompted many volcanologists to pursue better technologies for tracking volcanoes, both in the U.S. and worldwide, he said. (Explore an interactive showing how the Mount St. Helens' blast zone has changed in 30 years.)

"Probably the most important lesson" from Mount St. Helens is that volcanoes can rumble back to life and erupt in short periods of time, he said.

"These volcanoes-at the risk of anthropomorphizing a little bit-can be kind of sneaky."

Mount St. Helens gave just seven days of warning when it erupted again in 2004, and Alaska's Okmok volcano (which is not on the "very high threat" list) gave an hour's notice before spewing ash 50,000 feet (15,240 meters) high in 2008.

"When you consider you can have a volcanic reawakening and move into dangerous eruptions in a few weeks, if you don't have your act together and have instruments in place ... you're literally flying blind," Ewert said.

"With so many people and infrastructure at stake, we felt like that was a roulette game we're uncomfortable with as scientists."

That's why several U.S. volcano observatories support a National Volcano Early Warning System, which is now working its way through Congress. If put in place, the national network would ensure that the most dangerous U.S. volcanoes are being monitored, for example with seismographs and sensors installed on their flanks.

Right now only about a hundred of the 1,545 known active volcanoes worldwide are outfitted with monitoring equipment, noted Rick Wunderman of the Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanism Program in Washington, D.C.

Despite an ongoing "revolution" in monitoring volcanoes, the progress in predicting eruptions is still "surprisingly slow," said Wunderman, who worked at the Cascades Volcano Observatory near Mount St. Helens not long after its 1980 eruption.
Mount Rainier Volcano Also One to Watch
While Mount St. Helens gets its share of attention, Wunderman added that another Washington State volcano is also one to watch-Mount Rainier, the third most dangerous volcano on the 2005 USGS list.

"The point is that [Mount Rainier] doesn't even have to erupt," he said. "It's so big, so tall, and has so much ice that an earthquake or landslide" could combine with the region's heavy rainfall to send floodwaters gushing into valley communities built on an ancient floodplain below.

"It's a much more bleak picture than St. Helens in the sense of runoff-that's one thing that's on people's minds."

Overall, Wunderman compared Mount St. Helens' 1980 eruption with the recent explosions of Iceland's Eyjafjallajökull volcano, which have disrupted global air travel for weeks. (See pictures of the Eyjafjallajökull ash plume.)

"Every now and then galvanizing eruptions occur. It isn't often that they're so big or anything of that sort, it's more the media and the consciousness of people who are taxpayers, or stuck people in an airport," he said.

"So it was [with] St. Helens, which went eight hours straight at full throttle ... and rained down over a vast area of the West-it woke people up."

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Mount St. Helens Still Highly Dangerous, 30 Years Later

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That's because the Washington State volcano poses a triple threat: Mount St. Helens is one of the most active U.S. volcanoes, its eruptions are highly explosive, and it's situated near major metropolitan centers in the Pacific Northwest (see map), said John Ewert of the U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) Volcano Disaster Assistance Program.

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How Volcanoes Work - the Mt. St. Helens eruption

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Marie Szamborski in New Zealand outlines the situation in Christchurch in the aftermath of the earthquake that has struck the country.
[Editor's note: This post was originally posted on Marie's blog here.]
This list of information is meant to update those outside of New Zealand as to what has been going on since the earthquake hit Canterbury at 12.50 yesterday, 22 February, New Zealand time. I will say that I do not have first-hand knowledge from any one source but that I realise the ongoing news coverage may give us, here in New Zealand, more detailed information before it hits the internet or news reports in other countries. Therefore I hope this information can help someone out there who is looking for details.

To clarify for those who do not know the geography of New Zealand, the earthquake occurred in the South Island. Canterbury is the name of the wider area, akin to a county in some other countries. The epicenter was in a small town/ area of Christchurch known as Lyttleton which is just a few kilometers southeast of the city. The September earthquake was centred at Darfield, which is west of the city. Auckland, Wellington, Rotorua and Hamilton are located in the North Island which were not affected, so if you know anyone in those areas, there is no need to worry.

There have been many aftershocks since the main event yesterday including half a dozen or so over 5 on the richter scale and some over 6. This is making already unstable buildings in the CBD (Central business district) very dangerous and the city has been cordoned off. Those outside of the city are being asked to stay at home and not try to come into the city even if they are missing someone there. Those at home are also being asked to check on their neighbours and band together for support. All schools and business are closed although if someone feels their business could add something to the effort, they can open if they see fit. This would be things such as a Dairy (corner shop) which could provide needed supplies.

It is a category 3 disaster and will remain on that level for 5 days before reassessment. Although it was not unexpected that there would be a large aftershock from the September 2010 earthquake, the timing and location of this earthquake could not have been worse. The epicenter was near Lyttleton at a shallow depth of 5 kilometres. It happened at a time when the CBD was full of businesspeople, tourists, students and people having lunch in the restaurants and cafes. Many structures were already weakened from the first earthquake in September and the trend of aftershocks that have been happening since then.

Water

6 schools will be used for water distribution but there is a worry that there will not be enough water to go round for very long.

Search and Rescue

All efforts are currently focused on rescue of the living. There are 6 major sites of collapse that have been identified although it is believed that there will be many more smaller sites. 55 people have been confirmed dead and just over 20 unidentified. Around 300 people are reported as missing. It is possible that some are OK, but communications are difficult and so simply may not be able to get in touch.

Airport

The airport was closed until a few hours ago and now is very busy with flights of people wanting to exit the city. Special fares have been offered to those directly affected. Fares seem to be $50 domestic and possibly some international flights at $400.

Volunteers

Survivors have remarked on how well organized and helpful everyone has been. The Red cross and the Salvation Army are running shelters and there have been individuals who have arrived on the scene with random offerings such as a man cooking sausages who came up from Dunedin. New Zealand search and rescue people have arrived very quickly on the scene and Australian teams have arrived in the past couple of hours. Offers have also come in from The U.K., the U.S., Japan and Taiwan.

Foreigners

There was a large group of Australians in Christchurch for a urology conference and all participants are OK and either in local shelters or have been airlifted to Wellington. There was a Canadian couple who miraculously escaped from Christchurch Cathedral. There was also another report of a group of foreigners who were airlifted to Wellington.

Helplines

If you are in new Zealand and worried about people in Christchurch you can ring

0800 REDCROSS (0800 733 276).

For those outside of the country, you can ring +64 7 850 2199.

Donations

The Prime Minister and financial experts have noted that the cost of this earthquake will run into the billions in a country that has already been trying to keep its head above water in the economic downturn. Many people will be homeless and rescue efforts also come at a cost. Any donations received would be greatly appreciated. Donations can be sent via internet banking.

ANZ Appeal
Donations to bank account number 01-1839-0188939-00

National Bank Appeal
Donations to bank account number 06-0869-0548507-00

Westpac (bank) and the Salvation Army
Donations to bank account number 03-0207-0617331-00

ASB Bank
Donations to bank account number 12-3205-0146808-00

BNZ (bank) Red cross Canterbury Earthquake Appeal
Donations to bank account number 02-0500-0982004-000

Pike River Disaster Relief Trust chairman and Greymouth mayor Tony Kokshoorn has stated that they are no longer receiving donations and would encourage people to instead send donations to the Canterbury Earthquake Appeals.

If anyone has other questions, please ask in the comments or send me a tweet on @Shantiwallah and I will try to find out as much as possible. The best source of information is the Twitter hashtag #eqnz.

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Basic facts about the Christchurch earthquake

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Marie Szamborski in New Zealand outlines the situation in Christchurch in the aftermath of the earthquake that has struck the country. [Editor's note: This post was originally posted on Marie's blog here.] This list of information is meant to update those outside of New Zealand as to what has been going on since the earthquake hit Canterbury at 12.50 yesterday, 22 February, New Zealand time.

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Earthquake Case Study (New Zealand - Rich)

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Location New Zealand is located in the Pacific Ocean in the continent of Oceania. It is South East of Australia and consists of a North and South Island. Its capital city is Wellington. Causes The 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck New Zealand at 12:51 on 22 February 2011.

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Christchurch earthquake 2011 - MEDC Case Study

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This is a case study on the Christchurch Earthquake in New Zealand in February 2011 and is ideal for anyone studying A Level Geography.

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Christchurch: after the earthquake, a city rebuilt in whose image?

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New Zealand's second largest city was struck by disaster in February 2011 - and debate still rages as to whether it should ape its old character or develop a new one

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On 22 February 2011, at 12:51 pm (lunchtime), Christchurch was struck by a magnitude 6.3 earthquake. The quake was centred 10km south-east of the city at a depth of 5km. 185 people died, 164 people were seriously injured and there was major, widespread damage.

What happened?

On 22 February 2011, at 12:51 pm, Christchurch was struck by a magnitude 6.3 earthquake. The quake was centred 10km south-east of the city at a depth of 5km. In the ten minutes after it hit, there were 10 aftershocks of magnitude 4 or more.

Water pipes, roads, bridges, power lines, cell phone towers and ordinary phone lines were broken or damaged.

As had happened after the 4 September 2010 quake, there was a lot of liquefaction. Liquefaction happens when underground water in the soil comes to the surface. Thick muddy slush spreads everywhere, causing buildings and other structures to sink into the ground. Many roads, footpaths, schools and houses were flooded with silt.

There was a lot of confusion and panic, especially in the centre of the city. People were desperately trying to contact their friends and families, and to get back home. The phone lines and roads almost immediately became jammed.

Right after the earthquake, a lot of people left Christchurch. Small towns in the South Island welcomed many people from Christchurch. School kids were allowed to go to the schools at the places they were staying. Many people left for only a short while, but others chose to leave for good.

Injuries and fatalities

185 people died and many thousands were injured as a result of the earthquake. 164 people were seriously injured.

Most of the victims were killed in two large building collapses: 115 people died when the six-storey Canterbury Television (CTV) building in Madras Street collapsed, and 18 people died when the 4-storey Pyne Gould Corporation (PGC) building in Cambridge Terrace collapsed. Rescue crews worked around the clock at both locations to dig out trapped people.

169 people died in the Central City and 16 people died in other parts of Christchurch.

Rescue crews from all over the world came to help. There were crews from Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom, Taiwan, Australia and other countries.

About the earthquake

The earthquake had a magnitude of 6.3 on the Richter scale. It was felt all over the South Island and in the lower part of the North Island.

The fault that caused the quake cannot be seen from the surface, but it runs about 6 km south of the city centre. Land around the fault, in the Port Hills, in Cashmere and in the seaside suburbs, rose, fell and slid.

Even though the February 2011 earthquake was smaller in magnitude than the September 2010 earthquake, its impact was much greater. The September earthquake happened at night, when most people were at home asleep. This meant that even though some large buildings collapsed, few people were nearby them when they were damaged. The February earthquake was also much more disastrous because there was a very high 'ground acceleration'. Ground acceleration measures how much and how fast the ground (and things on it like buildings and natural features) moves during an earthquake. Some of the reasons why ground acceleration was so high in the February earthquake were the large amount of energy that the fault line released, the way the land under Christchurch was formed and how near Christchurch was to the fault. Also, the February earthquake was much shallower (closer to the surface) than the September one and it was closer to the city.

Earthquake damage

Many stone and brick buildings in Christchurch were damaged. Up to 100,000 buildings were damaged and about 10,000 buildings needed to be demolished.

Christchurch was divided into four zones after the earthquake. The land in the Green Zone was undamaged and could be built on again. In the Orange Zone more checks were needed before the land could be be built on. The White Zone was the area that had not been checked at all yet. The land in some parts of the city was very unstable: building on it safely will be difficult. These areas are called the Red Zone.

The water and sewage pipes were badly damaged. Many people needed to use portable or chemical toilets, and got their water from tankers for months after the quake.

Help from all around New Zealand

Groups of people came from all over New Zealand to help people who were affected by the earthquake.

The Farmy Army was made up of 800 farmers who brought their farm machines and muscle to help clean up the city.

The UCSA Student Volunteer Army was a group of 10,000 university students and others who worked over a period of months to help clean up liquefaction.

The Christchurch Baking Army was 350 locals who baked bread and goodies for rescue workers and others in need,

The Rangiora Earthquake Express was a a service manned by 1000 volunteers that helicoptered and drove in 45 tonnes of food and other supplies to the badly affected eastern parts of Christchurch.

Find out more about the Christchurch earthquake

Sources

Disasters

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22 February 2011 Canterbury earthquake for kids

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On 22 February 2011, at 12:51 pm (lunchtime), Christchurch was struck by a magnitude 6.3 earthquake. The quake was centred 10km south-east...

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On Tuesday 22 February 2011 at 12.51 p.m. Christchurch was badly damaged by a magnitude 6.3 earthquake, which killed 185 people and injured several thousand. The earthquake epicentre was near Lyttelton, just 10 kilometres south-east of Christchurch's central business district. The earthquake occurred more than five months after the 4 September 2010 earthquake, but is considered to be an aftershock of the earlier quake.

Casualties and damage

One hundred and eighty five people died as a result of the 22 February earthquake. It was lunchtime and many people were on the city streets. One hundred and fifteen died in the CTV building, 18 in the PGC building, 36 in the central city (including eight on buses), and 12 in the suburbs (including from falling rocks in the Redcliffs, Sumner and Port Hills). The Chief Coroner determined that another four deaths were directly associated with the earthquake. (A complete list of the deceased can be found on the New Zealand Police website.)

The earthquake brought down many buildings previously damaged in the September 2010 earthquake, especially older brick and mortar buildings. Many heritage buildings were heavily damaged, including the Provincial Council Chambers, Lyttelton's Timeball Station, and both the Anglican Christchurch Cathedral and the Catholic Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament. Among the modern buildings damaged, and eventually demolished, was Christchurch's tallest building, the Hotel Grand Chancellor. Over a quarter of the buildings in the central business district were demolished.

A violent earthquake

Although not as powerful as the magnitude 7.1 earthquake on 4 September 2010, this earthquake occurred on a fault line that was shallow and close to the city, so the shaking was particularly destructive. In the February 2011 quake, the fault movement and structure of the bedrock produced exceptionally strong ground motion - up to 1.8 times the acceleration due to gravity in the eastern suburbs. In the city centre ground accelerations were three to four times greater than those produced by the September 2010 earthquake.

Liquefaction

Liquefaction was much more extensive than in the September 2010 earthquake. Eastern sections of the city were built on a former swamp. Shaking turned water-saturated layers of sand and silt beneath the surface into sludge that squirted upwards through cracks. Properties and streets were buried in thick layers of silt, and water and sewage from broken pipes flooded streets. House foundations cracked and buckled, wrecking many homes. Despite the damage to homes, there were few serious injuries in residential houses in liquefaction areas. However, several thousand homes had to be demolished, and a large area of eastern Christchurch will probably never be reoccupied.

Aftermath and exodus

The government immediately activated its National Crisis Management Centre, and declared a national state of emergency the day after the quake. Christchurch's central business district remained cordoned off for more than two years after the earthquake. Electricity was restored to 75% of the city within three days, but water supplies and sewerage systems took several years to restore in some areas affected by liquefaction.

In the weeks following the earthquake about 70,000 people were believed to have left the city due to uninhabitable homes, lack of basic services and continuing aftershocks. Timaru's population swelled by 20% and thousands of pupils registered at schools in other cities and towns. Many returned to Christchurch as conditions improved.

Fault beneath the Port Hills

The earthquake was caused by the rupture of a 15-kilometre-long fault along the southern edge of the city, from Cashmere to the Avon-Heathcote estuary. The fault slopes southward beneath the Port Hills and did not break the surface - scientists used instrument measurements to determine its location and movement.

Read more about the 2011 Christchurch earthquake on NZHistory.

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13. - Historic earthquakes - Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand

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On Tuesday 22 February 2011 at 12.51 p.m. Christchurch was badly damaged by a magnitude 6.3 earthquake, which killed 185 people and injured several thousand. The earthquake epicentre was near Lyttelton, just 10 kilometres south-east of Christchurch's central business district. The ...

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New Zealand's prime minister says at least 65 people have died after a 6.3-magnitude earthquake hit Christchurch.

John Key said the toll was expected to rise further, adding: "We may be witnessing New Zealand's darkest day."

The tremor caused widespread damage as it occurred at a shallow depth of 5km (3.1 miles) during lunchtime when Christchurch was at its busiest.

The mayor of New Zealand's second-biggest city says 120 people have been rescued from the ruins.

The country's deadliest natural disaster in 80 years struck at 1251 (2351 GMT on Monday), 10km (6.2 miles) south-east of the city.

Screams from rubble

The damage is said to be far worse than after the 7.1-magnitude quake on 4 September, which left two people seriously injured but no fatalities.

We've had friends in town call us and say there are just bodies lying around: lots of dead bodies outside shops just lying there just covered in bricks
Jaydn Katene, Christchurch resident

Christchurch earthquake: Eyewitness accounts
The epicentre of that quake, which occurred in the middle of the night, was further away from the city and deeper underground, but it still caused an estimated $3bn (£1.9bn) in damage.

TV pictures of the aftermath of Tuesday's disaster showed scores of collapsed buildings in the South Island city of nearly 400,000 people.

Shocked survivors could be seen wandering the rubble-strewn streets, which cracked open as the ground beneath was liquefied by the tremor.

Police said that the dead included people on two buses which were crushed by falling buildings.

Helicopters plucked survivors to safety from rooftops, and dumped water on fires.

Officials said up to 30 people were feared still trapped inside the razed Pyne Gould Guinness building, where screams have been heard from the ruins.

CLICKABLE Select the images for more details.

Trapped under her desk inside the building, Anne Voss told Australia's Channel Seven by mobile phone: "I am hoping they will get me out soon because I have been here so long. And it's dark. And it's horrible."

Asked whether she was injured, she said: "I know I am bleeding and I can feel the ground is quite wet. I think it's blood."

Glacier smashed

A dozen visiting Japanese students are among those reported missing.

Bystanders have been using bare hands to try to free survivors trapped under debris.

Many injured people were carried out on blood-soaked stretchers or in the arms of shocked workmates and strangers.

Some escaped on ropes lowered from office towers. Others managed to crawl out of the rubble.

Analysis

By nature, earthquakes tend to cluster in space and time.

And Tuesday's tremor in Christchurch is almost certainly related to the much more energetic event that hit the region last September.

The critical difference on this occasion is the ground broke almost directly under the country's second city, and at shallow depth, 5km (3 miles) below the surface.

Contrast this with September's magnitude 7 quake: its epicentre occurred some 40km west of the city and at a depth of 10km, and it continued to rupture mainly away from the major built-up areas.

New Zealand lies on the notorious Ring of Fire, the line of frequent quakes and volcanic eruptions that circles virtually the entire Pacific rim.

The country straddles the boundary between two tectonic plates: the Pacific and Indo-Australian plates.

On South Island, the location of the latest quake, the plates rub past each other horizontally.
Depth and location key
The tremor sent the spire of Christchurch Cathedral, a landmark in the centre of the city, toppling into the square below.

John Gurr, a camera technician, told Reuters news agency the area outside the cathedral was "like a warzone".

Power and telephone lines have been knocked out, while burst pipes have deluged streets with water.

The suburbs of Lyttelton and New Brighton are reportedly "unliveable".

Queen Elizabeth II said in a statement she had been "utterly shocked" by the news.

"My thoughts are with all those who have been affected by this dreadful event," the statement said.

The quake caused some 30m tons of ice to shear away from New Zealand's biggest glacier.

Witnesses say massive icebergs formed when the Tasman Glacier in Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park broke, tossing a nearby lake with huge waves.

Back in Christchurch, emergency shelters were set up in the city's Hagley Park, a race course and schools as night approached.

City Mayor Bob Parker told the BBC: "This is a terrible, terrible toll on our city."

"There is no power in most of the city; there is no water in most of the city," he added.

PM John Key said: "It is just a scene of utter devastation. We have to work as fast as we can to get people out of environments where they are trapped.

"This is a community that is absolutely in agony. We just need this community, as it has done before and as it will do again, to come together, to check and support one another," he added.

Aftershocks

The military has been deployed to help the rescue effort, and the government has accepted an offer of specialist help from Australia.

A series of aftershocks, some as big as magnitude 5, have already rattled the stricken city, and officials warned residents to brace for more.

One Christchurch resident, Jaydn Katene, told the New Zealand Herald: "We've had friends in town call us and say there are just bodies lying around; lots of dead bodies outside shops just lying there just covered in bricks."

A British backpacker said the city "looked like a bomb had hit it".

New Zealand experiences more than 14,000 earthquakes a year, of which only around 20 have a magnitude in excess of 5.0.

The last fatal earthquake was in 1968, when a 7.1-magnitude tremor killed three people on the South Island's western coast.

Tuesday's was the country's worst natural disaster since a 1931 quake in the North Island city of Napier killed 256 people.

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New Zealand's prime minister says at least 65 people have died after a 6.3-magnitude earthquake hit Christchurch. John Key said the toll was expected to rise further, adding: "We may be witnessing New Zealand's darkest day." The tremor caused widespread damage as it occurred at a shallow depth of 5km (3.1 miles) during lunchtime when Christchurch was at its busiest.

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At 12.51 p.m. on Tuesday 22 February 2011, a magnitude 6.3 earthquake caused severe damage in Christchurch and Lyttelton, killing 185 people and injuring several thousand.

The earthquake's epicentre was near Lyttelton, just 10 km south-east of Christchurch's central business district. It occurred nearly six months after the 4 September 2010 earthquake.

The earthquake struck at lunchtime, when many people were on the city streets. More than 130 people lost their lives in the collapse of the Canterbury Television and Pyne Gould Corporation buildings. Falling bricks and masonry killed another 11 people, while eight died in two buses that were crushed by crumbling walls. Rock cliffs collapsed in the Sumner and Redcliffs area, and boulders tumbled down the Port Hills, with five people killed by falling rocks.

Although not as powerful as the magnitude 7.1 earthquake on 4 September 2010, this earthquake occurred on a shallow fault line close to the city, so the shaking was particularly destructive.

The earthquake brought down many buildings that had been damaged in September, especially older brick and mortar buildings. Heritage buildings that suffered heavy damage included the Provincial Council Chambers, Lyttelton's Timeball Station, the Anglican Christchurch Cathedral and the Catholic Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament. Two-thirds of the buildings in the central business district were subsequently demolished, including the city's tallest building, the Hotel Grand Chancellor.

Liquefaction was much more extensive than in September 2010. Shaking turned water-saturated layers of sand and silt beneath the surface into sludge that squirted upwards through cracks. Thick layers of silt covered properties and streets, and water and sewage from broken pipes flooded streets. House foundations cracked and buckled, wrecking many homes. Irreparable damage necessitated the demolition of several thousand homes, and large tracts of suburban land were subsequently abandoned, with 8,000 properties bought by the government and razed.

The government declared a state of national emergency the day after the quake. Authorities quickly cordoned off Christchurch's central business district. The cordon remained in place in some areas until June 2013. Power companies restored electricity to 75% of the city within three days, but re-establishing water supplies and sewerage systems took much longer.

The Oi Manawa Canterbury Earthquake National Memorial was opened on 22 February 2017, the sixth anniversary of the earthquake.

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At 12.51 p.m. on Tuesday 22 February 2011, a magnitude 6.3 earthquake caused severe damage in Christchurch and Lyttelton, killing 185 people and injuring several thousand.

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The magnitude-6.9 Loma Prieta earthquake struck on Oct. 17, 1989 at 5:04 p.m. The devastating shaking wrecked buildings and collapsed freeways from Watsonville north to West Oakland. With much of the country tuned in for the World Series at San Francisco's Candlestick Park, it was one of the world's first shared natural disasters. Twenty-five years and $30 billion dollars later, San Francisco has new waterfront, a new Bay Bridge and revived neighborhoods. [ Read the full story on the anniversary here. ]

A car crushed under the third story of an apartment building in the Marina district. The lower stories can't be seen because of sinking due to liquefaction and structural failure. (Credit: J.K. Nakata, U.S. Geological Survey)

The Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989 also collapsed this section of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. (Credit: C.E. Meyer, USGS)

Support columns punctured this Highway 1 bridge when it collapsed at Struve Slough near Watsonville. (Credit: H.G. Wilshire, USGS)

During the 1989 earthquake, books and an air duct were dislodged. (Credit: J.K. Nakata)

This aerial view shows a collapsed five-story tower at St. Joseph's Seminary, caused by the Loma Preita earthquake in 1989. (H.G. Wilshire)

Books in this bookstore were scattered all over the aisles during the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989. (Credit: J.K. Nakata)

The Loma Prieta earthquake created a crack system that destroyed this driveway southeast of Highway 17. (Credit: J.K. Nakata)

This house was moved laterally off its foundation by the Loma Prieta earthquake. (Credit: J.K. Nakata)

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Loma Prieta Earthquake: 25th Anniversary in Pictures

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The magnitude-6.9 Loma Prieta earthquake struck on Oct. 17, 1989 at 5:04 p.m. The devastating shaking wrecked buildings and collapsed freeways from Watsonville north to West Oakland. With much of the country tuned in for the World Series at San Francisco's Candlestick Park, it was one of the world's first shared natural disasters.

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San Francisco-Oakland earthquake of 1989, also called Loma Prieta earthquake, major earthquake that struck the San Francisco Bay Area, California, U.S., on October 17, 1989. The strongest earthquake to hit the area since the San Francisco earthquake of 1906, it caused 63 deaths, nearly 3,800 injuries, and an estimated $6 billion in property damage.

The earthquake was triggered by a slip along the San Andreas Fault. Its epicentre was in the Forest of Nisene Marks State Park, near Loma Prieta peak in the Santa Cruz mountains, northeast of Santa Cruz and approximately 60 miles (100 km) south of San Francisco. It struck just after 5:00 pm local time and lasted approximately 15 seconds, with a moment magnitude of 6.9. The most severe damage was suffered by San Francisco and Oakland, but communities throughout the region, including Alameda, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, and Monterey, also were affected. San Francisco's Marina district was particularly hard hit because it had been built on filled land (comprising loose, sandy soil), and the unreinforced masonry buildings in Santa Cruz (many of which were 50 to 100 years old) failed completely.

San Francisco-Oakland earthquake of 1989 C.E. Meyer/U.S. Geological Survey

The earthquake significantly damaged the transportation system of the Bay Area. The collapse of the Cypress Street Viaduct (Nimitz Freeway) caused most of the earthquake-related deaths. The San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge was also damaged when a span of the top deck collapsed. In the aftermath, all bridges in the area underwent seismic retrofitting to make them more resistant to earthquakes.

Remarkably, the earthquake struck just before the start of the third game of the 1989 World Series, which was being played in San Francisco's Candlestick Park between the two Bay Area baseball teams, the San Francisco Giants and the Oakland Athletics. The disaster's occurrence during a major live television broadcast meant that news of the earthquake, as well as aerial views provided by the Goodyear blimp, reached a large audience. The baseball championship, which was suspended for 10 days, would come to be known as the "Earthquake Series."

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san francisco–oakland earthquake of 1989

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San Francisco-Oakland earthquake of 1989 | United States

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San Francisco-Oakland earthquake of 1989: San Francisco-Oakland earthquake of 1989, major earthquake that struck the San Francisco Bay Area, California, U.S., on October 17, 1989.

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1989: Earthquake hits San Francisco
A powerful earthquake has rocked San Francisco killing nine people and injuring hundreds.
The number of dead is expected to rise significantly. The two-tier Bay Bridge and Nimitz freeway both partially collapsed and rescuers are waiting to recover bodies from cars crushed by the quake.

The epicentre of the quake, which measured 6.9 on the Richter scale, is thought to have been Loma Prieta, 10 miles north of Santa Cruz on the San Andreas fault.

A massive rescue effort is now underway in what experts believe is the second biggest earthquake ever to hit the United States.

Officials have reported "unbelievable damage to infrastructure" with collapsed bridges and freeways, fires, shattered buildings, gaping cracks in roads and land slides.

Tremors from the quake, which lasted 15 seconds, were reported 400 miles away in Los Angeles and 200 miles away in Reno, Nevada.

The quake struck at 1704 local time (18 October, 0004 GMT), as people were making their way home after work. Traffic was brought to a standstill and many homes left without power.

Fans waiting to see the baseball World Series match at Candlestick Park were also caught up in the quake. Supporters ran onto the pitch as the whole stadium swayed.

Hospitals have been flooded with injured victims. Ambulance worker Kimberly Kelly said: "We're getting mainly shock, cuts and shortness of breath."

Officials are said to be shocked at the amount of damage as freeways and buildings are supposed to be earthquake-proof.

The Governor of California, George Deukmajian, said: "I had been under the impression that the highways had been constructed to deal with any severe earthquake and I am very surprised to see what has happened to some of those."

"I think we are going to have some kind of inquiry to determine why they did not survive a quake of the severity of this one."

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BBC ON THIS DAY | 17 | 1989: Earthquake hits San Francisco

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1989: Earthquake hits San Francisco A powerful earthquake has rocked San Francisco killing nine people and injuring hundreds. The number of dead is expected to rise significantly. The two-tier Bay Bridge and Nimitz freeway both partially collapsed and rescuers are waiting to recover bodies from cars crushed by the quake.

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INSANE FOOTAGE!! SAN FRANCISCO #EARTHQUAKE- 1989- BEST CLIPS

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The 1989 San Francisco Earthquake | History

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On October 17, 1989, a magnitude 6.9 earthquake hit the San Francisco Bay Area, killing 67 people and causing more than $5 billion in damages. Despite the fact that the disaster was one of the most powerful and destructive quakes ever to hit a populated area of the United States, the death toll was relatively small. The disaster is known as both as the San Francisco-Oakland earthquake and the Loma Prieta earthquake because it was centered near Loma Prieta Peak in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

On October 17, the Bay Area was buzzing about baseball. The Oakland Athletics and San Francisco Giants, both local teams, had reached the World Series. The third game of the series was scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m. at San Francisco's Candlestick Park. Just prior to the game, at 5:04 p.m., with live cameras on the field, a magnitude 6.9 quake rocked the San Francisco Bay region. The quake was centered near Loma Prieta Peak (approximately 60 miles south of San Francisco) in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Though the stadium withstood the shaking, other parts of the Bay Area were not as fortunate. Sixty-seven people perished as a result of the quake, which lasted around 15 seconds, while more than 3,000 others were injured.

Did you know? The San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge opened to traffic in November 1936, six months before the Golden Gate Bridge.

San Francisco's Marina district suffered extensive damage. Built on an area where there was no underlying bedrock, the liquefaction of the ground resulted in the collapse of a number of structures. Additionally, gas mains and pipes burst, sparking fires. A 1.25-mile segment of the two-level Cypress Street Viaduct along the Nimitz Freeway (Interstate 880), just south of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, collapsed during the quake, resulting in 42 fatalities when the upper level of the road crashed onto the cars on the lower level. One person was killed when a portion of the upper deck of the Bay Bridge-which had been scheduled for a retrofitting the following week-collapsed onto the lower level.

Another hard-hit area was Watsonville, located several miles from the quake's epicenter. More than 30 percent of Watsonville's downtown and 1 in 8 houses were destroyed.Total damages from the earthquake were estimated at more than $5 billion. In the quake's aftermath, San Francisco and other communities enacted strict regulations requiring unreinforced masonry buildings to be retrofitted.

Fact Check

We strive for accuracy and fairness. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate.

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On October 17, 1989, a magnitude 6.9 earthquake hit the San Francisco Bay Area, killing 67 people and causing more than $5 billion in damages.

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On November 13, 1985, the Nevado del Ruiz volcano erupted. Pyroclastic flows exploding from the crater melted the mountain's icecap, forming lahars (volcanic mudflows and debris flows) which cascaded into river valleys below. One lahar, consisting of three pulses, did most of the damage. Traveling at 6 meters (20 ft) per second, the first pulse enveloped most of the town of Armero, killing up to 20,000 people; the two later pulses weakened buildings. Another lahar killed 1,800 people in nearby Chinchiná. In total 23,000 people were killed and 13 villages in addition to Armero were destroyed.
Omayra Sánchez was a little 13 year old girl who lived in Armero when the "Nevado del Ruíz" erupted. When the lahar destroyed her house, her father and aunt died inside. She was able to survive the lahar, but when rescue teams tried to help her, they realized that her legs were trapped under her house's roof. Once the girl was freed from the waist up, her rescuers attempted to pull her out, but found the task impossible without breaking her legs in the process. Rescue workers placed a tire around her body to avoid her to drown. Divers discovered that Sánchez's legs were caught under a door made of bricks, with her aunt's body under her feet.

Despite her predicament, Sánchez remained relatively positive: she sang to Germán Santa María Barragán, a journalist who was working as a volunteer, asked for sweet food, drank soda, and agreed to be interviewed. At times, she was scared, and prayed or cried. On the third night, Sánchez began hallucinating, saying that she did not want to be late for school, and mentioned a math exam. Near the end of her life, Sánchez's eyes reddened, her face swelled, and her hands whitened.

At one point she asked the people to leave her so they could rest. Hours later the workers returned with a pump and tried to save her, but her legs were bent under the concrete as if she was kneeling, and it was impossible to free her without severing her legs. Lacking the surgical equipment to save her from the effects of an amputation, the doctors present agreed that it would be more humane to let her die. In all, Sánchez suffered for nearly three nights (roughly 60 hours) before she died at approximately 10:05 AM on November 16 from exposure, most likely from gangrene or hypothermia. A short video clip here.

Frank Fournier, a French reporter, took a photograph of Sánchez in her final hours, titled "The Agony of Omayra Sánchez". In an interview he recalled:
I reached the town of Armero at dawn about three days after the explosion. I met a farmer who told me of this young girl who needed help. He took me to her, she was almost on her own at the time, just a few people around and some rescuers helping someone else a bit further away...I could hear people screaming for help and then silence - an eerie silence. It was very haunting. There were a few helicopters, some that had been loaned by an oil company, trying to rescue people. When I took the pictures I felt totally powerless in front of this little girl, who was facing death with courage and dignity. She could sense that her life was going. By this stage, Omayra was drifting in and out of consciousness. She even asked me if I could take her to school because she was worried that she would be late. I gave my film to some photographers who were going back to the airport and had them shipped back to my agent in Paris. Omayra died about three hours after I got there. Then there was this little girl and people were powerless to help her. The rescuers kept coming back to her, local farmers and some people who had some medical aid. They tried to comfort her.(Photo credit: Frank Fournier).
The picture was published six months after her death, and later won the World Press Photo of the Year for 1985. Omayra's face became worldwide known. Today, she remains as the symbol of the Armero tragedy. Her tomb is visited by local and tourists to offer her a prayer and ask to never repeat this tragedy.

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Omayra Sanchez, young victim of the Armero Tragedy in Colombia, 1985

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On November 13, 1985, the Nevado del Ruiz volcano erupted. Pyroclastic flows exploding from the crater melted the mountain's icecap, forming lahars (volcanic mudflows and debris flows) which cascaded into river valleys below. One lahar, consisting of three pulses, did most of the damage.

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How Volcanoes Work - the Nevado del Ruiz eruption

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Nevado del Ruiz is the northernmost of several Colombian stratovolcanoes in theAndes Volcanic Chain of western South America. The Andean volcanic belt is generated by the eastwardsubduction of the Nazca oceanic plate beneath the South American continental plate. Typically, such stratovolcanoes generate explosivePlinian eruptions with associated pyroclastic flows that can melt snow and glaciers near the summit, thus producing devastating .

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: spaces available / : guaranteed / : few spaces left / : booked out

Nevado del Ruiz volcano

Last update: 1 May 2020 (explosive activity continues)
Typical eruption style: explosive
Nevado del Ruiz volcano eruptions: 2015-16 (ongoing), 2014-15, 2012-13, 1994 (?), 1985-91, 1984-85, 1916, 1845, 1833?, 1831, 1829, 1828, 1826(?), 1805, 1623, 1595, 1570, 1541(?)

Time

Mag. / Depth

Distance

Location

No recent earthquakes

Nevado del Ruiz volcano in central Colombia, 130 km WNW of Bogota, is a broad, glacier covered volcano. A relatively small eruption in 1985 caused a devastating mud flow that killed almost 25,000 people in the town of Armero, marking one of the worst volcanic disasters in history. Sadly, this tragedy could have been easily avoided if clear warnings by volcanologists had been taken seriously.

Background:

Nevado del Ruiz covers more 200 sq km and it is composed by 3 major andesitic and dacitic edificed of lavas and tuffs. The present-day cone is composed by lava domes built within the summit caldera of the older Ruiz volcano. Its summit contains the 1-km-wide and 240-m-deep Arenas crater.
The prominent La Olleta flank cone on the SW flank was probably built in historic time. Nevado del Ruiz has repeatedly produced large mud flows (lahars), triggered by melting of the summit glacier during eruptions. Deposits of these mud flows are found on its broad flanks and these events have been known since the 16th century.

1985 Armero mud flow disaster
Nevado del Ruiz erupted on 13 November 1985. Although the eruption was small, it caused a large mud flow which swept through the town of Armero almost 40 km away from the summit where more than 23,000 people were killed.
The event caused a heated debate because government officials chose to ignore volcanologists' warnings of the imminent danger of the advancing lahar. The eruption itself had been preceded by increased fumarolic, phreatic and seismic activity for a year.
The tragedy was South America's worst and globally the 4th worst volcanic known disaster.
The event was even more tragic, because it the same events had already occurred at least 2 times during earlier eruptions. ... more

See also: Sentinel hub | Landsat 8

More on VolcanoDiscovery:

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1985: Volcano kills thousands in Colombia
About 20,000 people are feared dead after a volcanic eruption in northern Colombia.
Four towns in the Andes region are reported to have been buried when ash spewed out of the volcano, Nevado del Ruiz, causing a mudslide.

The worst-affected was Armero, the province of Tolima's second largest city, about 50 miles from the Colombian capital, Bogota.

Armero, which lay in a valley below the 16,200-foot high (4,937m) volcano, was virtually destroyed - buried by mud and rubble swept down on to it.

The fatal eruption happened during the night when most of the town's 27,000 residents were in bed.

Nevado del Ruiz, known locally as "the Sleeping Lion", had not erupted for nearly 150 years.

Increased activity

Even though it is located only 310 miles (500 km) from the equator, the volcano's summit is covered with snow.

It had given some warning of increased activity - in recent months there had been some rumblings from the crater - but the authorities had told Armero residents it was safe to remain in the city.

The initial blast began on Wednesday afternoon when ash came showering down.

An evacuation was ordered but abandoned when the volcano went quiet at about 1900 local time.

However, just after 2100 a more serious eruption began causing the summit's icecap to melt and carry mud and debris down the mountain at speeds of up to 30 miles (50 km) per hour.

The town of Armero lay in the so-called "Ring of Fire", an unstable area of the earth's crust encircling the Pacific Ocean which includes most of the world's active volcanoes.

The Colombian government has appealed to the United Nations for help.

However, rescue efforts are being hampered by fallen bridges and impassable roads.

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BBC ON THIS DAY | 13 | 1985: Volcano kills thousands in Colombia

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1985: Volcano kills thousands in Colombia About 20,000 people are feared dead after a volcanic eruption in northern Colombia. Four towns in the Andes region are reported to have been buried when ash spewed out of the volcano, Nevado del Ruiz, causing a mudslide.

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CLOSE

Peggy Short-Nottage and her husband joined sightseers rushing to Mount St. Helens when volcanic activity escalated in the spring of 1980.

Instead of hopping in a car and making the drive to Southwestern Washington, they hopped in a plane.

From the cockpit of their Cessna 150, some 10,000 feet in the air, Short-Nottage documented the mountain's transformation before and after its catastrophic May 18 eruption with an Olympus OM-2 camera and a telephoto lens.

Images of a snow-covered conical peak, mushroom-shaped clouds of ash, and a flattened forest are among a collection of never-before-published aerial photographs.

The rare images, shot in color slide film and preserved in 2-inch-square cardboard frames arranged in a carousel tray, were put away and forgotten, later presumed lost.

A friend of Short-Nottage's family recently rediscovered the slides, and she is graciously sharing them in advance of the 38th anniversary of the deadliest volcanic eruption in U.S. history.

Fifty-seven people, nearly 7,000 big game animals such as deer and elk, and countless fish and birds died that unforgettable Sunday morning.

The eruption scattered ash across a dozen states, and the lateral blast acted like a giant Etch A Sketch, wiping away the landscape within minutes. The debris avalanche, mudflows, and flooding caused destruction and damage in a 230-square-mile area.

In Short-Nottage's collection of 34 slides, the devastation is juxtaposed with breathtaking beauty.

'It looked like Mars'

The volcanic activity at Mount St. Helens, which picked up steam two months before the big blast, was alluring to Lyle Baker.

He studied geology in college and although he wound up taking a different professional path, he never lost interest in the natural processes that change Earth's structure.

"The whole Mount St. Helens thing was like a dream come true, other than the 57 people who died," said Baker, who lives in West Salem with his wife Susan.

He was mesmerized when shown aerial images of the mountain all those years ago by Tom Bockelman, Short-Nottage's father who worked as a commercial and portrait photographer in Salem.

WATCH: Aerial view of lava spewing out Hawaii's Kilauea volcano

"It just happened that they caught the mountain during an eruption at sunset," Baker said. "You had all these colors of ash from the sun. A couple of pictures looked like they've been edited, almost like they're not real. It looked like Mars."

He asked for copies of the slides, and Bockelman obliged. Baker was blindsided a few years later when one of Bockelman's daughters contacted him and said their dad wanted the slides back. Bockelman may have mistakenly handed over the originals.

"I looked and looked and tore everything up and couldn't find them," Baker said.

As the years passed, he forgot about the slides, presuming they were lost forever.

During a recent move, though, his wife was going through boxes of family keepsakes when she came across a carousel tray of color slides.

No lightbox or loupe was needed because she knew right away what they were - the missing photographs of Mount St. Helens. Plus, the box was labeled.

The family business

To be honest, Short-Nottage assumed they were packed away with all the other slides and prints collected through the family business over five decades. She has stacks and stacks stored in every cabinet and closet in her Colton home.

Her father opened a portrait studio in Mount Angel in 1952, moving the business to Salem six years later. Mr. B Photography was located at the family's residence on Marion Street NE. The studio was in the living room, where Bockelman utilized natural daylight in his work.

WATCH: Hawaii man stays behind despite lava danger

Tom Bockelman's name, or that of the business, shows up hundreds of times in the Statesman Journal archives, often among the credits of wedding announcement portraits.

Two of his daughters, including Short-Nottage, helped grow the business through the 1980s and 1990s.

Bockelman went up in the plane at least once with his daughter and her husband, Allen Short, to get a bird's eye view of Mount St. Helens. Short-Nottage said it was snug in the two-seater, but there was room for a passenger behind the seats.

Her dad took his camera, too.

Short-Nottage believes these photographs are hers, though, because of the format used.

The popularity of Kodachrome slide film had faded by the 1980s, but it remained a film of choice for professional shooters and serious amateurs.

She doesn't remember her father ever using slide film. He preferred to use split 35mm in a half-frame camera, which split exposures in half and allowed users to take twice as many photos with one roll.

"I'd love to give my dad credit," Short-Nottage said. "The whole reason I got into photography was him."

He had her turning prints in the chemical bath in the darkroom by age 5 and gave her her first camera, a Kodak Brownie, in the first grade.

"He was amazing to teach me and my system when there were no women in photography," she said. "He didn't really see gender as a problem for learning anything."

Lure of the mountain

The cockpit of a Cessna 150 was her studio in 1980, Mount St. Helens her subject.

Short-Nottage and her husband lived in Gervais and kept their two-tone aqua-colored plane, tail number N554E, at a hangar at Whiskey Hill Aviation near Hubbard.

They flew out of Lenhardt Airpark, a privately owned, public-use airport with a grass strip. It was about a 45-minute flight to the mountain.

"Just about every time it blew, we went up," Short-Nottage said.

It wasn't always easy to get away. The couple had four children at the time and both worked.

MORE: Lava from Hawaii's Kilauea volcano destroys more homes on the Big Island

They did not go up the day the big blast decapitated the mountain, she's sure of that. Like many, she remembers where she was at 8:32 a.m. on May 18, 1980.

They were at home when they heard a loud boom and ran outside to see what was blowing up. A couple blocks away, standing on the railroad tracks in Gervais, they had a clear view of Mount St. Helens erupting in the distance.

Volcanic activity continued on the mountain for months, and subsequent eruptions were just as violent though not as deadly or destructive.

Significant eruptions reportedly sent ash to distant communities May 25, June 12, July 22, Aug. 7, and Oct. 16-18.

Allen Short died in a plane crash July 29, 1980, in British Columbia, narrowing the window of when these aerial photos were shot.

Avoiding the ash

An picturesque view of clouds of ash oozing from the horseshoe-shaped crater of Mount St. Helens, shot around sunset from the cockpit of a Cessna 150. (Photo: Courtesy of Peggy Short-Nottage)

Most of the time they had the airspace to themselves, although one day there were a half-dozen other planes with the same idea. Two of the photographs in the collection show a single plane off in the distance.

"We were kind of surprised because we thought it would be kind of jammed," Short-Nottage said.

The Federal Aviation Administration established a 5-mile restricted zone around the mountain, although a spokesman for the Northwest Mountain Region was unable to provide any details as to when and how long it was enforced.

"I'm sorry to tell you that the FAA does not retain records that far back," spokesman Allen Kenitzer said in an email. "Further, anyone who might have been here at the time has long since retired."

The Associated Press reported restrictions remained in place until Nov. 1 that year, and that some pilots who violated restrictions had their licenses suspended.

The book "Mount St. Helens: The Eruption and Recovery of a Volcano" notes that 70 unauthorized planes violated airspace restrictions over the mountain on March 30 alone, citing the FAA as its source.

Short-Nottage can't imagine her husband not adhering to FAA regulations.

"Usually, Al followed the rules," she said. "You had to maintain a certain distance. You couldn't go where the ash was. You could only go on the clear side mountain.

"We were afraid of ash particles and what they might do to the engine."

"You had to maintain a certain distance. You couldn't go where the ash was. You could only go on the clear side mountain."
Peggy Short-Nottage
If family or friends thought them crazy to stake out an active volcano, no one mentioned it. And she doesn't recall any white-knuckle moments.

"But I'm really comfortable flying," she said. "It was usually sunny when it blew, so the air was quite acceptable. It was occasionally turbulent, but I've been in more turbulence."

There was something profound about being at 10,000 feet in the air, above the clouds, alongside a mountain. The awesome view was worth every bit of turbulence.

"I don't think we hardly spoke because it was so amazing," Short-Nottage said.

"It was really amazing to see the transformation of the mountain and how far the ash went both in height and distance. It was unbelievable. It was so thick, at times it looked like it was standing still."

The trips ran together and didn't always lead to more photographs.

"Because it looked so much the same, we didn't always take a lot of pictures when we went," she said. "I wish I hadn't taken it for granted."

Mount St. Helens remains an active volcano today monitored by scientists from the United States Geological Survey for earthquakes, swelling and gas emissions.

Recovery around the mountain continues, with visitors from around the world flocking to three learning centers and a variety of recreational opportunities in the 110,000-acre area now designated as a National Volcanic Monument.

Lore spans generations

Last summer, after another anniversary passed, the Bakers were in the middle of a move from their residence in West Salem to Salemtowne when Susan found the slides.

They were hidden and protected all this time through moves to two houses and a storage unit.

Lyle Baker arranged to return them to the Bockelman family, but first he called his son, Wes, who is a photographer on the side.

"You won't believe what I've got," he said.

Wes Baker, who does landscape, portrait and wedding photography, was excited to see the images.

He was born more than a year after Mount St. Helens erupted but grew up understanding the lore and lure of the mountain.

"I hiked St. Helens the first time when I was 9 years old," he said. "It's a big part of my family. Dad always tells stories about how different it was before. I've been on the crater and hiking and backpacking around the mountain quite a few times."

Wes Baker shared digital images from the slides, with permission from the family. The slides are back in Short-Nottage's possession.

"I was thrilled to get them back when I realized I didn't have them," Short-Nottage said.

She examined her work, on 4x7 prints, during a recent visit to her home. Sometimes she needed a magnifying glass to make out details because her sight is failing.

Her favorite Mount St. Helens photo, to her disappointment, wasn't there. She remembers how the sky was so blue and the mountain and clouds of ash so orange, with a crescent moon above.

Which leads us to this kicker.

"I thought I had more than a single tray of mountain pictures," Short-Nottage said.

Stay tuned, until next anniversary.
"Forward This" appears Wednesdays and Sundays and highlights the people, places, and organizations of the Mid-Willamette Valley. Contact Capi Lynn at clynn@StatesmanJournal.com or 503-399-6710, or follow her the rest of the week on Twitter @CapiLynn and Facebook @CapiLynnSJ.
Read or Share this story: https://stjr.nl/2rxqexL

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Mount St. Helens eruption: Never-before-published photos

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CLOSE Peggy Short-Nottage and her husband joined sightseers rushing to Mount St. Helens when volcanic activity escalated in the spring of 1980. Instead of hopping in a car and making the drive to Southwestern Washington, they hopped in a plane.

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At the same time a mushroom-shaped column of ash rose thousands of feet skyward and drifted downwind, turning day into night as dark, gray ash fell over eastern Washington and beyond. Wet, cement-like slurries of rock and mud scoured all sides of the volcano. Searing flows of pumice poured from the crater.

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When volcanic Mount St. Helens began to show signs of erupting in March of 1980, photographer Robert Landsburg wanted to capture every image he could of the Earth exerting its power. He had grown up in Seattle, Washington, and the mountain was part of his internal landscape.

For two months, while earthquakes sent shudders through the area, Landsburg picked his way around the Washington State high country to document what was happening.

Meanwhile, as if announcing its ill-tempered intentions, the mountain vented steam. Magma from deep within the Earth's center crept higher and higher, elevating the tension in the area as it rose. Mount St. Helens' sides bulged and cracked.

On the night of May 17, the 48-year-old freelance photographer based in Portland, Oregon, camped nearby. There's irony in an entry in his journal from the night: "I feel like I am on the verge of something."

On May 18, with Landsburg just four miles away, the peak started changing dramatically. Its north face began to slough away in what has been called history's biggest landslide.

Mount St. Helens was beginning to blow.

Frantically, Landsburg shot frame after frame as a billowing cloud of smoke and ash spewed and began its approach. As it moved closer, Landsburg realized this was his last stand. There would be no escaping the hot, poisonous gases and suffocating ash. Instead of panicking at his impending doom, Landsburg methodically took a series of actions for which he has been applauded. He rewound his film back into the canister, placed the camera in his backpack, and laid down over the bag to protect it.

His selfless act was realized after his body, buried in a moonscape of ash, was found near his station wagon. He had died of ash asphyxiation. Landsburg's film was developed and provided geologists a valuable firsthand look of the eruption.

The following year, National Geographic published Landsburg's last day of work. In an accompanying story, the magazine's editors noted: "It contained not only telling images of the killing edge of the blast, but also the scratches, bubbles, warpings, and light leaks caused by heat and ash, the very thumbprint of holocaust."

Landsburg was one of 57 people who died in the blast. The death count could have been much higher, authorities reported, but the eruption was on a Sunday, a day when area loggers were not at work.

Among others who died was Harry R. Truman, an 83-year-old innkeeper who refused to leave the area no matter how many people begged. His remains were never found.

Also killed was volcanologist David A. Johnston, who had been stationed nearby at Coldwater Ridge. While Johnston was the first to report the final eruption, his excited radio transmission was also his famous last words: "Vancouver! Vancouver! This is it!"

A photograph shows Johnston happily sitting beside a camper hours before the blast, but his body was never found. The site he was stationed was hit by a shockwave of super-heated gas and ash.

One other photographer was killed by the volcano. Reid Blackburn worked for The Colombia newspaper, but also was shooting for National Geographic and the U.S. Geological Survey. He was stationed near Johnston at Coldwater Camp. Blackburn was an avid hiker and Mount St. Helens was one of his favorite hiking spots. He was said by colleagues to lovingly refer to the mountain as "the Sleepy Beauty of the Northwest."

His car and nearby, his body, were found deeply buried in ash four days after the eruption.
Related story from us: Katia and Maurice Krafft had a passion for volcanoes, one that ultimately proved fatal
More than 500 million tons of ash were belched out by the eruption, most of it in Washington, Idaho and Montana, but pockets of ash even made it to Oklahoma.

Traces drifted all over the world, some of it remaining in the atmosphere for several years.

Terri Likens' byline has appeared in newspapers around the world through The Associated Press. She has also done work for ABCNews, the BBC, and magazines that include High Country News, American Profile, and Plateau Journal. She lives just east of Nashville, Tenn.

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In 1980, Mount St. Helens volcanic eruption claimed 57 lives, from photographers to an innkeeper

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When volcanic Mount St. Helens began to show signs of erupting in March of 1980, photographer Robert Landsburg wanted to capture every image he could of the Earth exerting its power. He had grown up in Seattle, Washington, and the mountain was part of his internal landscape.

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The eruption on May 18th 1980 was the largest and most destructive in recorded U.S. history

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BBC Earth - Mount St Helens - The volcano that erupted sideways

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Watch BBC video clips about Mount St Helens, a volcano in Washington, United States, that erupted sideways in 1980 and killed 57 people.