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St. Helens rocks on and on, more or less until the break of dawn.

"Scientists want to peer inside the crater of Mount St. Helens on Wednesday to locate the origins of a plume of ash and steam that spewed nearly seven miles high into the air Tuesday night.









"Geologists cautioned the explosion wasn't necessarily a harbinger of a larger or more destructive eruption.*

"The U.S. Geological Survey in Vancouver, WA, began a 24-hour volcano watch after the eruption at 5:20 p.m. PT. Nearly five hours later, the plume remained visible in satellite photos.

"Glowing tendrils of lava were spotted inside the mountain's crater following the explosion. Although the plume rose nearly twice as high as one produced by the last [large] eruption in October, the geological agency classified the event as 'small,' according to an advisory on the Web site of its Cascades Volcano Observatory. No damage or injuries were reported. Some air traffic had to be routed around the plume as it rose to 36,000 feet."

* That was CNN's story above. This was from the SeaTimes:
"The explosion also appeared to be the most powerful in the current round of volcanic activity, University of Washington seismologist Steve Malone said... The volcano seemed to quiet down almost immediately afterward, and there's no reason to expect a more significant eruption is imminent, Malone said.

"'It looks like it's gone back to roughly the same type of signal that we were seeing before.'"

"However, yesterday's explosion occurred with very little warning, cautioned Carolyn Driedger, spokeswoman for the U.S. Geological Survey's Cascades Volcano Observatory.

"'We've had this relatively placid dome-building eruption going on, but we've been saying all along that could change at any time,' Driedger said. 'It could intensify with little warning and produce more explosions, or it could go back to dome-building.'"


Big burst from St. Helens
By Sandi Doughton and Nick Perry
The Seattle Times

"...When university roommates Scott Miller and William Nicoll, both 19, saw the plume explode in front of them at the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument, they feared their lives were in danger.

"Miller said: 'The first thing that went through my mind was, "Is this 1980 again?"'

"An eruption in 1980 blew off the mountain's top, leveled forests for miles around and killed 57 people.

"Against Nicoll's protests yesterday, Miller quickly took two photos, and then the pair jumped back into their car and floored it. They yelled at other motorists to turn back, and drove about a mile before feeling safe.



"Nicoll, who is from New Jersey, was on his first visit to Washington and was spending the spring-break week sightseeing with Miller, who grew up in Lake Stevens. Before the explosion, Nicoll joked that he wanted to see a show from Mother Nature.

"'It was a pretty big adrenaline rush,' Nicoll said."

I can identify with the sentiment: When my Lady Friend and I went to MSH last month, we'd just walked up to the observation deck when this stout column of gas and ash was emitted from the new dome. Nothing anywhere near as large as yesterday's eruption, but still something that makes you understand what you're dealin' with... Those photos will be uploaded here after a few more days.


Earlier posts on this hot topic:

Welcome to the Lava Dome
Volcanic growth spurts, just down the highway
Goro goro (rumblings)

And a subsequent post:

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