**FILE PHOTO** Mount St. Helens emits a small, steady cloud of steam at dusk, March 9, 2005, in Mount St. Helens, Wash. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
Posted on 05/30/2006 10:52:48 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
VANCOUVER, Wash. - Mount St. Helens shot a steam and ash plume at least 16,000 feet into the air Monday after a large rockfall from the lava dome in the volcano's crater, scientists said.
Pilots reported the plume rose between 16,000 and 20,000 feet in the air, scientists at the Cascades Volcano Observatory said.
The rockfall coincided with a magnitude 3.1 earthquake shortly after 9 a.m. Monday at the mountain, scientists said. Such events are expected during growth of the lava dome, they said.
"There is no evidence of an explosion associated with this event," the observatory said in a statement.
Clouds obscured the crater at the time.
"We don't know how much steam and how much ash," Cynthia Gardner, scientist in charge at the observatory, told The Columbian. "These are very short-lived events."
Lava has continued to push into the crater — most recently forming a sheer rock fin — since the 8,364-foot mountain reawakened with a drumfire of low-level seismic activity in September 2004.
The crater was formed by the volcano's deadly May 18, 1980, eruption that killed 57 people and blasted about 1,300 feet off the then-9,677-foot peak.
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On the Net:
Mount St. Helens: http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Volcanoes/MSH/
Crater images: http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Volcanoes/MSH/Images/MSH04/framework.html
VolcanoCam: http://www.fs.fed.us/gpnf/volcanocams/msh/
**FILE PHOTO** Mount St. Helens emits a small, steady cloud of steam at dusk, March 9, 2005, in Mount St. Helens, Wash. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
Wonder how long a pic of H. Thomas shows up?
Thas a lot of hot air if you axed me.
I think that's birdcrap on the lens...........
Looks like the gods are angry.
There's a photo of Helen Thomas smoking. Who's got it?
Here's a tip. Don't live there. Also, don't live where Hurricanes hit. Don't live on the banks of rivers that flood. Don't buy land in a trailer park in Oklahoma or Kansas. Don't live on active faults in the earth.
Got to be quick, we aren't alone either. ,, lol
I'm with you!
Aw - what's the excitement in that?
I would not go so far as to tell people not to live here or there. I would instead tell them to quit whining and blaming others when an earthquake or eruption or storm rolls thru.
Freedom is something that should never be taken away. People are free to live where they chose. WHat is so lost these days is the personal responsibility for making that choice.
It would be a beautiful day today for any activity. Sunny clear blue skies.
Isn't this Bush's fault? :)
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