Smashed In Moments by bmac62
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No AI - This artwork was created entirely by hand or with traditional digital tools.
Description
The power of an exploding volcano is almost beyond belief until you witness the results for yourself.
"At 8:32 Sunday morning, May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens erupted.
Shaken by an earthquake measuring 5.1 on the Richter scale, the north face of this tall symmetrical mountain collapsed in a massive rock debris avalanche. Nearly 230 square miles of forest was blown down or buried beneath volcanic deposits. At the same time a mushroom-shaped column of ash rose thousands of feet skyward and drifted downwind, turning day into night as dark, gray ash fell over eastern Washington (state) and beyond. The eruption lasted 9 hours, but Mount St. Helens and the surrounding landscape were dramatically changed within moments." Quote comes from the US Forest Service link below.
This picture is from my files and was taken with my old Sony Cybershot (1.3MP). Thanks to Photoshop, I can now place this photo in my gallery. Photo was taken in May 2002.
Mount Saint Helens is off screen to the right. The area where I am located is at the visitor's center nearest to the mountain. Prior to the blast/eruption, this was a heavily forested area. The valley off to the right is 600 feet shallower now. This is where the top of the mountain was deposited.
More info/pics here at a US Forest Service site: Mt. St. Helen's Link
Thanks for stopping by. Your comments are always welcome and appreciated.
Bill

Comments (36)
I remember this so well--thanks for the info and this great shot!!
Fantastic photo.
sweet shot
Great image Bill and nice composition:)
GREAT SHOT
Excellent photo!
Very intriguing place
Excellent docu pic!
It must have be quite an experience to be there!
I remember this...Thanks for the great photo...
I was living in Port Angeles at the time, having a lazy cup of Sunday-morning coffee, and we heard an explosion. I went out on the deck to look around, half thinking there had been an accident at the mill, expecting to see smoke or hear sirens. We found out shortly thereafter that what we'd heard was Mount Saint Helens errupting. It's more than 200 miles by car, and something around 150 miles away as the crow flies. We had a light dusting of ash on the deck rail later that afternoon, even being in the opposite direction of the prevailing winds. Great shot, and thanks for the trip back in time!
Great shot. Aren't you glad you were not there when it blew? Amazing how the vegetation came back to quickly after the eruption.
Who could forget such an event. Great image! :)
I remember the news reports here when Mount St. Helens blew, you cannot argue with the wrath of mother nature eh?...great shot documenting the event Bill, great textures here, would make a sweet HDR.
Excellent shot of the desolation! The sky was filled with ash in Colorado, too. For a long time the sunsets were a hazy dull red, and we're about a thousand miles away as a crow flies, and on the other side of the Continental Divide. The ash fell on the vineyards, and there was one very memorable "Ashfall White" wine from Washington State we liked a lot, whose grapes were fertilized by the ash.
The sheer scale of this is amazing. Great capture!
Great shot of this area. I remember that day well!
Ahh, 1980. Like Moonrancher, we had ash in Central Wyoming, but also the smell of sulphur. Labor Day weekend 1980 I flew into Spokane: hot, maybe 90 degrees, and "snow" on some of the rock ledges. Weathered ash, of course, but it took this geologist a few minutes to realize what he was seeing. If memory serves, the wheat harvest in the Columbia Basin that year was exceptional because the ash reduced soil moisture evaporation.
Nice scene captured! That camera took a pretty good shot even though it was low mega pixel!
Terrible... never underestimate the nature's force...
an excellent shot, Bill, and I do remeber this event too, it was such an impressive show of mother natures powers
Scary reality that nothing is permanent. Well done, Clive
Dear me it does sound as if it was very scary indeed. Love your shot Bill. The only volanco I have ever seen (it was active ) was in Costa Rica, we were able to sit in hot springs at a nearby complex to watch its activity, brilliant experience but we were some distance.
I strongly remember the satallite images of the devastation - excellent one on a more personal scale.
I was living in California at the time and remember it well also. Great presentation~
Wow, shades of Mt Vesuvius and Krakatoa! Maybe even Tunguska. Superlative POV, DOF, perspective, textures and ambiance in this one, Bill!
I well remember this event happening and how worried we all were down here. Our whole country is volcanic with quite a lot of activity at times so deep down we all hope that this doesn't happen here. This is a very clear capture and shows the devastation very well.
nice shot!!
Terrific image Bill, I can cleary remember the news reports on TV. didn't realise it was so long ago!
outstanding bit of history.when Mount Pinatubo erupted it effected the temperature across the mid section of the US from airborne ash