A  lithograph of 1883 eruption of Krakatoa.

One of the most powerful volcanic eruptions in recorded history occurred on Krakatoa (also called Krakatau), a small, uninhabited volcanic island east of Sumatra and west of Java, on August 27,
1883. Heard 3,000 miles away, the explosions threw five cubic
miles of earth 50 miles into the air, created 120-foot tsunamis
and killed 36,000 people.

Illustration of volcanic island of Krakatoa before it blew. 

CAMILLE BOHANNON

On August 24, 79 AD after centuries of dormancy, Mount Vesuvius
erupted in southern Italy, devastating the prosperous Roman cities
of  Pompeii and Herculaneum and killing thousands. The cities,
buried under a thick layer of volcanic material and mud, were
never rebuilt and largely forgotten in the course of history.

In the 18th century, Pompeii and Herculaneum were rediscovered and
excavated, providing an  unprecedented archaeological record of
the everyday life of an ancient civilization, startlingly preserved in
in sudden death.

On Sunday, at 8:32 a.m. PDT, Mount St. Helens, a volcanic peak in southwestern Washington, suffered a massive eruption, killing 57
people and devastating some 210 square miles of wilderness.

USGS geologist Don Swanson (in red) and his colleague, Jim Moore, view a car filled with ash deposits from the May 18, 1980, eruption
of  Mount St. Helens. (USGS photo)

Harold R. "Harry" Truman (October 30, 1896 – May 18, 1980)
Truman was the owner and caretaker of Mount St. Helens
Lodge at Spirit Lake.

The mountain as it looks today.

CAMILLE
BOHANNON

On this day in 1980, Mt. Saint Helens erupted in Washington state. A
total of 57 people were killed along with 3 billion dollars in damage.

Mt. Saint Helens as it looks today.