***What causes it? Volcanoes are caused by magma rising to the surface of the earth.

***Where do they occur? Volcanoes occur at hot spots, divergent plate boundaries (such as rifts & mid-ocean ridges), and convergent plate boundaries (subduction zones).

***Can it be predicted? How? Vibrations and heat activity can sometime help predict eruptions several months to a few days, but volcanos are not predicted in any specific way.

***How can we prevent people from dying? We can prevent people from dying by providing people that live near active volcanoes emergency helicopters or masks to keep from breathing ash.

***What can you do in your own home to prepare? At home you can keep an emergency kit and evacuation route.

***Where did it happen? Include a map. 

The 1980 Mt. St. Helens eruption occurred in the Cascade mountain range in the state of Washington. 

***3 Interesting Facts from this disaster.

---Mount St. Helens was reduced by over 1,300 feet in height.

---More than 900,000 tons of ash are cleaned up from areas around Washington state & an estimated 540 million tons of ash drifted up to 2,200 square miles

---The eruption was the first eruption in the continental United States outside of Alaska since 1917.

***What was the cause of the disaster (use terminology from class to explain the science)? 

The cause was  5.1 earthquake struck beneath the mountain making the north side to fall away in a landslide that released the pressure which caused the eruption.

***Death Toll-- 57 people are known to died have died in the eruption.

***Describe the damages from the disaster (economic,social, cultural, health, etc…)

Hot ash and rocks started forest fires. The resulting floods and mud slides (from melted snow) washed away buildings, roads, and bridges. Explosions flattened millions of trees. A thick layer of volcanic ash spread over a wide area. Ash destroyed crops and wildlife and covered cities.

*National Geographic, (2014). Volcano Safety Tips, Volcano Preparation, Volcano Readiness - National Geographic. [online] Available at: http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/natural-disasters/volcano-safety-tips/ [Accessed 14 Oct. 2014].

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*Mountsthelens.com, (2014). Mt. St. Helens History. [online] Available at: http://mountsthelens.com/history-1.html [Accessed 14 Oct. 2014].

*Geol105naturalhazards.voices.wooster.edu, (2014). Mount St. Helens — GEOL 105 Natural Hazards. [online] Available at: http://geol105naturalhazards.voices.wooster.edu/mount-st-helens/ [Accessed 14 Oct. 2014].

*Grossman, S. and Stampler, L. (2014). Newsfeed - TIME. [online] TIME.com. Available at: http://newsfeed.time.com/ [Accessed 14 Oct. 2014].

*Survey, U., photo, C. and Staff, C. (1980). St. Helens spews death, destruction. [online] The Columbian. Available at: http://www.columbian.com/news/1980/may/19/st-helens-spews-death-destruction/ [Accessed 14 Oct. 2014].