Mount St. Helens is an active stratovolcano that is located in Washington State. Serious activity began in March 1980, with a series of earthquakes that produced small scale avalanches of snow and ice resting on the volcano. On March 27, phreatic eruptions caused some alarm. Ash and steam erupted for the next several days, and a new crater formed. A noticeable bulge formed in the side of the volcano at the beginning of April, causing even more alarm. On May 18, the big one hit. The bulge that had formed on the side slide off, triggered by a magnitude 5 earthquake. The debris leveled everything in its path, slamming into the lake below and creating a massive wave. Pyroclastic flows, which is something I learned about from the White Island eruption, engulfed the area. The superheated gasses and debris moved at over 200 miles an hour, burning everything in its path.

57 peopled died in or as a result of the eruption. Most of them died from asphyxiation from the flow, but some died as a result of burns. Some people have never been recovered. 200 houses were destroyed, along with over 40 bridges. It is worth noting that there is some misinformation about the exclusion zones. It was assumed that the volcano would erupt from the top, and officials created a "red zone" area of exclusion where people were to evacuate from. People were allowed in the area, most notably loggers working for the company that owned the property. It is assumed by most people that the people that died were there illegally, which is simply not the case. The day before the disaster, people were allowed back into the area to collect pets and belongings. Another group was to be allowed in the day of the eruption, but luckily had not yet arrived. Over 300 loggers working in the area would have died if this eruption had occurred during the work week, because logging operations had not stopped in hopes of getting as much lumber as possible in case of eruption. (Which is insane to me.)

I learned so much about volcanos from this book! I never knew there were so many different characteristics to volcanic activity. I also really liked the end of the book where it was talking about the aftermath. Logs filled the lakes, and the logs remain there to this very day. Some trees that were not sheared off still remain standing, dead. I wasn't aware that you could visit this place, but they did build a visitor's center where you can learn about this event. This book is currently available on Audible Plus and was around five hours to listen to. I really enjoyed this book a lot.