On May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens erupted following an earthquake in the area. I was 11 years old and I remember sitting in a diner having breakfast with my dad. We were on some kind of a trip together. We were reading the newspaper together and talking about the eruption and wondering if our family would feel the effects. My uncle and two aunts and many cousins lived (and still live) in Oregon near the coast on Cannon Beach. It turns out that even though our relatives were around 150 miles away, they had a layer of ash on their cars the next day following the massive eruption.
Are you old like me and have a story about Mount St. Helens? If you are... and you do... tell us about it. Leave a comment below, or you can email me at school. I will relay the stories to students as we continue to talk about ways that our Earth Changes. Thanks!
On May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens erupted following an earthquake in the area. I was 11 years old and I remember sitting in a diner having breakfast with my dad. We were on some kind of a trip together. We were reading the newspaper together and talking about the eruption and wondering if our family would feel the effects. My uncle and two aunts and many cousins lived (and still live) in Oregon near the coast on Cannon Beach. It turns out that even though our relatives were around 150 miles away, they had a layer of ash on their cars the next day following the massive eruption.
Are you old like me and have a story about Mount St. Helens? If you are... and you do... tell us about it. Leave a comment below, or you can email me at school. I will relay the stories to students as we continue to talk about ways that our Earth Changes. Thanks!
My son TK is in your class. I remember going to visit my dad in Seattle shortly after the eruption of Mt. St. Helens in 1980. I was a 1st grader then- so the whole thing was very exciting. There was ash everywhere- like dust. We had a few small earthquakes while I was there. Thinking about earthquakes was very scary to me. As I was from the midwest where the land is flat and big storms were the only natural thing I was raised to worry about. Over the years we would go camping in various spots and I remember there being this super soft ashy-grey earth in certain places. It always made me wonder when the volcano would erupt next.
ReplyDeleteJust before TK was born, I was again in Seattle and experienced a HUGE earthquake. We we lucky because the epicenter of the quake was deep in the earth. This made for a "rolling" quake instead of a "shaker". Everything that was solid around me started to move- like water. This earth is indeed powerful!
LK, TK's momma.
The first time Mt. St. Helens erupted in 1980, I was hiking in the Columbia River Gorge with my mother, father and brother. I was 8 years old and we had just reached the top of a hike called Angel's Rest, which had a nice view of the southern Washington Cascades and the Columbia River a couple of thousand feet below. It was a clear sunny day. My father pointed to Mt. St. Helens and said "I think the mountain is erupting." He was right. There was a small column of steam coming from the top of the mountain.
ReplyDeleteThere were several more eruptions during the spring after that and even an earthquake I remember. I recall sitting at home in Portland one night with my family watching "Dallas" on television when suddenly the room started rocking and shaking. The newscaster came on and interrupted the show to say there had just been an earthquake related to Mt. St. Helens.
Finally, on May 18, 1980, the huge explosive eruption occurred. About one third of the mountain was blasted into the air, the rivers and the landscape around the mountain. There was ash everywhere in Portland and some people took to wearing dust masks. The streets downtown were coated with a thick layer of ash and my mother drove my brother and me downtown to collect some. We each had a one-quart Mason jar and a large serving spoon in hand. We easily filled both quart jars with ash. Some stores were selling small vials of ash to tourists for $5 per vial. You could have fit a couple of hundred vials into each jar my brother and I collected.
My dad Alek told me a story about Mount st. Helens he was in Portland on a hike I loved his story.I am going to make make a bunch of connections of what I think's going to happen next to Mt. St. Helens. I think my dad should tell you the story also.
ReplyDeleteSAM (MMs dad)
ReplyDeleteAs a young man living in Colorado Springs when Mt. St. H erupted, I remember my 1967 Chevelle SS covered in a gray ash the next day and amazed that the jet stream had carried so much ash 1200 miles so quickly. As a side note - MMs mom's b-day is 5/18
In the interest of time, I will go low tech. I lived in Portland, Oregon when Mt. St H blew and was watching a morning news show when my mom called from central Washington to see if I was ok. I went outside and saw the eruption-it was amazing. She said the sky was clear over them but, in the days that followed, they were hit with lots of ash.
ReplyDeleteWe got ash in Portland with eruptions that happened after the main one-I had to put nylons over the intake thing on my car to keep it running!
I remember being glued to the TV news and our paper carried stories about the survivors and those who died for months plus pictures of the devastation. Seeing the crater on the news, flying over it, and visiting it since were such powerful experiences.
Creative people used the ash to make glass and pottery-I have some!
Connie
KT's great uncle John was a professor of Geophysics at Southern Methodist University in 1980. He was called up to Mount St. Helens to study the eruption and I remember him talking about flying around in a helicopter to survey the area and collecting samples. We lived in the Dallas area and he brought us back samples of ash.
ReplyDeleteJT, KT's Dad
It is funny how everyone's stories are bringing back memories for me. I now remember people selling the ash, and I think I had some when I was a kid. I had a cousin by marriage who made pottery, but I don't know if he ever used the ash in his work. My aunt still has a lot of his work in her home.
ReplyDeleteDear Mr.Lewis,I think it was relly smart of you to post this on our class blog.I think learning about Mount St.Helens.Yourstundent,E.C.
ReplyDelete