Mount St. Helens 1979 Pin

As 1979 came to a closed, nobody had any idea that come May of the following year, Mount St. Helens would erupt with such violence that the top of the mountain locals have seen in the sky for generations would soon be more than 1,000' shorter. On May 18, 1980, the deadliest and most violent volcanic event in U.S. history would lay an unreal path of destruction. Fifty-seven people were killed; 200 homes, 47 bridges, 15 miles of railways, and 185 miles of highway were destroyed. A massive debris avalanche, triggered by an earthquake of magnitude 5.1, caused a lateral eruption that reduced the elevation of the mountain's summit from 9,677 ft to 8,363 ft, leaving a 1-mile wide horseshoe-shaped crater.