Mount Saint Helens Spews Ash After 3.1 Magnitude Earthquake

[spindrifter]

MOUNT SAINT HELENS -- The U-S Geological Survey says an earthquake at Mount Saint Helens Monday sent a plume of ash and smoke nearly 20-thousand feet into the air.

The earthquake had a magnitude of three-point-one. Scientists also reported a large rockfall from the growing lava dome, which sent a flow of rock and dust from the new dome.

Seismic activity at the volcano is an every-day occurrence, but most of the recent quakes have stayed below two on the Richter scale.


http://www.kirotv.com/news/9288890/detail.html

[WoodyTobiasJr]

1. My sister used to live 35 air miles from there...

Wasn't it supposed to blow last year?

Still, better Mt St Helens than Mt Rainier

[WolverineDG]

3. My cousin lives in Everett

She says if Rainier blows, they're all dead. :scared:

While the view is pretty, I really don't like flying near or even between Mt. St. Helens & Mt. Rainier on my way to Sea-Tac.

dg

[regnaD kciN]

8. Not a chance...

If Rainier blows (please, not before I've finished taking all the photographs I want!) it will wipe out towns like Orting, Elbe, and Carbonado. Any town that is on a river fed by one of the glaciers would be in severe danger from flooding and mudflows, which, in a massively-catastrophic eruption, would include much of the southern Kent valley (Sumner, Pacific, Auburn), and might even affect the Duwamish up to its mouth on Elliot Bay. In the unlikely case that it had a northwards lateral blast like St. Helens, Enumclaw would probably be left in ruins. But Everett? I live in Maple Valley, and every prediction I've read would put the damage zone in the worst-case blast no further than five miles south of here. To think that it would have any effect on Everett, an hour's drive north (i.e. away from the mountain) from my house, is pure fantasy.

[WolverineDG]

11. Maybe, maybe not

They were digging up their yard to put in new fencing & her husband came across a strange gray layer about an inch thick. Turns out it was ash that had fallen on the property after most recent the Mt. St. Helens blast.

dg

[LostinVA]

6. Mt. Rainer would be a real disaster

But, I know it'll happen some day. I've spent some time on that mountain -- it's beautiful... Mt. St. Helen's looks like the bloody moon...

[El Supremo]

7. There is something different in the middle of the crater. Pic >>

The dome looks taller.

And I wish they'd get rid of that smudge in the upper right. as been there for months.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

2. MOUNT ST. HELENS UPDATE

Monday, May 29, 2006 11:30 a.m. PDT (1830 UTC)

MOUNT ST. HELENS UPDATE

Current status is Volcano Advisory (Alert Level 2); aviation color code ORANGE: Growth of the new lava dome inside the crater of Mount St. Helens continues, accompanied by low rates of seismicity, low emissions of steam and volcanic gases, and minor production of ash. During such eruptions, changes in the level of activity can occur over days to months. The eruption could intensify suddenly or with little warning and produce explosions that cause hazardous conditions within several miles of the crater and farther downwind. Small lahars could suddenly descend the Toutle River if triggered by heavy rain or by interaction of hot rocks with snow and ice. These lahars pose a negligible hazard below the Sediment Retention Structure (SRS) but could pose a hazard along the river channel upstream.


Potential ash hazards: Wind forecasts from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), coupled with eruption models, show that any ash clouds that rise above the crater rim today would drift east to southeastward early shifting to southeastward by afternoon.


Potential ash hazards to aviation: Under current eruptive conditions, small, short-lived explosions may produce ash clouds that exceed 30,000 feet in altitude. Ash from such events can travel 100 miles or more downwind.


Recent observations: At 9:08 a.m. PDT (1608 UTC) a large rockfall from the growing lava dome corresponded with a magnitude 3.1 earthquake, sending a flow of rock and dust from the new dome. Pilots reported a plume to 16,000 to 20,000 feet. Remote camera views from six minutes after the event showed mostly steam and minor ash plumes in the crater. There is no evidence of an explosion associated with this event. Events such as this are expected during lava dome growth. Weather permitting, scientists will be in the field later this week.

http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Volcanoes/Cascades/CurrentActivity/current_updates.html

[TechBear_Seattle]

4. Drats! Too cloudy in Seattle to see it

It's a good long way off, but on a good day with binocs.... That would be a sight.

[regnaD kciN]

9. You've been able to spot St. Helens from Seattle...???

Where? I''ve never managed to do that, binoculars or no binoculars.

[TechBear_Seattle]

10. A plume of ash that tall would be visible

Early last year, when St. Helens last was spewing ash, it was visible with magnification from First Hill. But that eruption was on a pretty clear, dry day.

[1620rock]

5. It's Clinton's fault.