Mount St Helens - Blast Effects by bmac62
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No AI - This artwork was created entirely by hand or with traditional digital tools.
Description
When Mount Saint Helens erupted at 8:32 am on the morning of May 18th, 1980 a blast of thermal energy literally blew down entire conifer forests for miles around the volcano. 230 sq miles (596 sq km) were directly effected. Temperatures of up to 660 degrees F (349 degrees C) and a blast velocity of at least 300 mph (483 km/h) occurred.
Trees were uprooted, trunks were stripped of branches and bark, and soil was blasted away down to bedrock.
The photo above taken a few days ago shows some of these effects. Please zoom for the best view.

Comments (16)
And yet after all that there is still some regeneration. I remember what used to be Spirit Lake filled with fallen timber. Quite a stark image showing nature's power.
Superb capture my friend. God bless.
Nice photo. I remember, too. Spirit Lake and all the other images of devastation. I'm reading Graham Hancock's latest book "Magicians of the Gods". It's about a purported comet strike over the north American continent. The research shows global devastation by fire and water. He delves into the unusual geology of western Washington and the Iowa panhandle. Well worth reading! Keep up the good work! :-)
WOW great Bill. I remember the day it happened.
Truly astonishing! This super shot really tells that story so well.
This really shows the devastation but also the recovery by nature
Fantastic and it seems mother nature is trying to build up the trees again.
What a marvelous landscape... Fantastic shot also !!!
Fantastic capture. Great in zoom. xx
Nice shot Bill - I especially like the way you cropped the sky to focus our attention on the terrain...
Fantastic
Quite a spectacular shot, Bill! The land is slowly recovering. With all our technology and nuclear weapons, we are still no match for mother nature when she flexes her muscles.. St. Helens would be a firecracker compared to that cauldron under Yellowstone if it ever blows.
You are right Rod about Yellowstone...that is a scenario I ignore with a passion:-)
wonderful shot
I can concur. I first saw the devastation in September 1992, coming in from the north. I also saw the footage from a viewpoint of a geologist, some miles away. It killed the observer, but the footage showing the approaching pressure wave survived. When I was stationed up there we never paid attention to Mt. Saint Helens, because it was one of the lesser peaks. BTW Bill, I have been reading books by Brad Taylor and started reading Brad Thor, similar in topic!
Stellar image...