At 8:32 a.m. PDT on May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens, a volcanic
peak in southwestern Washington, suffered 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 eruption.

At 8:32 a.m. PDT on May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens, a
volcanic peak in southwestern Washington, suffered
a massive eruption, killing 57 people and devastating
some 210 square miles of wilderness.