The eruption of Mount St. Helens 35 years ago provided an amazing opportunity for scientists to study the effects of catastrophe. The incredible lessons are as valuable as ever!
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May 18, 2015, marks the 35th anniversary of one of the most violent natural disasters of our modern time, the colossal 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens in Washington state. Its explosive power shocked the world and made headline news. Fifty-seven people died, over $1 billion worth of property was destroyed, and over 230 square miles (600 km2) of forests were immediately flattened. Recent rumblings are again making news, raising fears that the volcano may be reawakening.
While the losses were tragic, the value to science has been inestimable. Geologists vastly improved their ability to predict eruptions, safely evacuating tens of thousands of Filipino people before Pinatubo erupted in 1991. Scientists began learning many other valuable lessons, some of which have challenged the foundations of evolutionary thinking.
Harry R. Truman
Copyright Bettmann/Corbis / AP Images
Harry R. Truman, who operated a lodge near Mount St. Helens for over fifty years, became a folk hero when he refused to evacuate. “The mountain is a mile away,” he told reporters. “The mountain ain’t gonna hurt me.” He and his lodge were later buried under 150 feet (46 m) of debris.
The eruption of Mount St. Helens is often regarded as the most significant geologic event of the twentieth century. Since the volcano was conveniently located in Washington state, only two hours’ drive from Portland, scientists could document the eruption in unprecedented detail. Although not the most powerful explosion on record, it provided a natural laboratory for understanding how quickly catastrophic processes can reshape the earth, and how rapidly wildlife can recover.
Within moments of eruption, the whole northern side of the mountain (two-thirds of a cubic mile of rock) slid away—the largest observed landslide on record. The eruption lasted nine hours, followed by more eruptions over the next six years. Geologists, who are accustomed to thinking about slow evolutionary processes shaping our world, were astounded by the scale of initial destruction and the speed at which new geologic features formed. Thirty-five years later, Mount St. Helens still teaches us lessons about the powerful forces the Creator used to shape the earth. These findings confront the underlying slow-and-gradual assumptions of modern geologic thinking, and they give us invaluable clues about the catastrophic potential of a global, cataclysmic Flood.
