--- title: Mount St. Helens, the Worst Volcano Eruption in U.S. History description: On the anniversary of the blast, remembering its destruction canonical: https://time.com/4340219/mount-st-helens-eruption-anniversary/ author: Sarah Begley article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-05-18T17:28:31.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T17:38:26.459Z article:section: History og:title: Mount St. Helens and the Worst Volcano Eruption in U.S. History og:description: On the anniversary of the blast, remembering its destruction og:url: https://time.com/4340219/mount-st-helens-eruption-anniversary/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt26677d1ae5ca9237/698893b8524fc0b5c4df80c2/mount-st-helens.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Volcanic eruption. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Mount St. Helens and the Worst Volcano Eruption in U.S. History twitter:description: On the anniversary of the blast, remembering its destruction twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt26677d1ae5ca9237/698893b8524fc0b5c4df80c2/mount-st-helens.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Mount St. Helens and the Worst Volcano Eruption in U.S. History by [Sarah Begley](https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley May 18, 2016 5:28 PM UTC  In 1980, a major volcanic eruption occurred at Mount St Helens, a volcano located in state of Washington, in the United States. In 1980, a major volcanic eruption occurred at Mount St Helens, a volcano located in state of Washington, in the United States.Universal History Archive—UIG via Getty Images by [Sarah Begley](https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley May 18, 2016 5:28 PM UTC It was small by volcanic standards, but massive by human ones: on this day in [1980](http://time.com/vault/issue/1980-06-02/page/1/), Mount St. Helens erupted in what the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration [calls](http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2015/05/15/mount-st-helens-eruption-35-anniversary/27170663/) “the deadliest and most economically destructive volcanic event in the history of the United States.” Though the blast generated “about 500 times the force of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima,” TIME reported in a [cover story](http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,924152,00.html), it was seen as a “middling” explosion for a volcano. Still, it killed [57 people](http://time.com/3856099/mt-st-helens-35-years/) and thousands of animals and left the mountain itself 1,300 feet lower. As TIME reported: --- > “” --- Today, [_National Geographic_](http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/05/160517-mount-st-helens-timelapse-video-anniversary/) reports, a “baby volcano” is growing inside the crater as magma builds up in its center. While that doesn’t pose an immediate threat to the region, it is indicative that the volcano is alive and well—a fact that may be troubling to residents of the Pacific Northwest. “The volcano is still living and breathing,” Smithsonian volcanologist Stephanie Grocke told _National Geographic._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4340219/mount-st-helens-eruption-anniversary/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4340219/mount-st-helens-eruption-anniversary/"},"headline":"Mount St. Helens and the Worst Volcano Eruption in U.S. History","datePublished":"2016-05-18T17:28:31.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T17:38:26.459Z","description":"On the anniversary of the blast, remembering its destruction","url":"https://time.com/4340219/mount-st-helens-eruption-anniversary/","keywords":["Natural Disasters"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt26677d1ae5ca9237/698893b8524fc0b5c4df80c2/mount-st-helens.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sarah Begley","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt26677d1ae5ca9237/698893b8524fc0b5c4df80c2/mount-st-helens.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Volcanic eruption.","caption":"Volcanic eruption.","creditText":"Universal History Archive—UIG via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/history/","name":"History"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4340219/mount-st-helens-eruption-anniversary/","name":"Mount St. Helens and the Worst Volcano Eruption in U.S. History"}}]}] ```