"How life bounces back from epic destruction On May 18, 1980, people all over the world watched with awe and horror as Mount St. Helens erupted in southwestern Washington. Fifty-seven people were killed, and hundreds of square miles of what had been lush forests and wild rivers were to all appearances destroyed. While most people thought of the eruption as a catastrophe, a small, ragtag team of ecologists did not. For them, the eruption of Mount St....

On May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens erupted with fury. Triggered by the largest landslide ever recorded, a devastating lateral blast blew off the entire northern side of the volcano. Searing hot gasses, traveling at 650 miles per hour, scorched trees nearly twenty miles away. The mountain instantly lost 1300' in elevation. A slurry of mud, ash and melting ice inundated the landscape, which was then buried in 540 million tons of ash, and fifty-seven...

Survival narrative meets scientific, natural, and social history in the riveting story of a volcanic disaster. For months in early 1980, scientists, journalists, and ordinary people listened anxiously to rumblings in the longquiescent volcano Mount St. Helens. Still, when a massive explosion took the top off the mountain, no one was prepared. Fifty-seven people died, including newlywed logger John Killian (for years afterward, his father searched...

"Takes a local and regional perspective in looking back on the mountain's history, the frenzied days surrounding the eruption, and its aftermath." -The Oregonian In the spring of 1980, Mount St. Helens awoke from a century-long slumber with a series of dramatic changes. Most threatening was a bulge on the side of the snowy peak, pushing steadily outward. Near Spirit Lake, local resident Harry Truman refused to leave his lodge, even as scientists like...

When Mount St. Helens erupted in 1980, every living thing in the blast zone was buried beneath 300 feet of avalanche debris, covered with steaming mud, and topped with a superheated layer of frothy rock from deep within the Earth. It seemed as though Mount St. Helens might remain a wasteland forever. Then, to everyone's surprise, life began to bloom again. A pioneering look at the interplay between biology and geology that may help scientists predict...