mount st.helens, america 1980
Mount St. Helens is a currently active stratovolcano located in Washington, America that has been subject to a large number of previous eruptions recording back to roughly 37600 years back, with the most recent volcanic activity monitored being in 2008. However, Mount St. Helens is most notorious for its famous 1980 eruption which devastated the nearby area along with having visible effects worldwide. This particular eruption occurred on May 18 1980 at 8:32 am (PDT-Pacific Daylight Time) and is recorded to be the most deadly and economically destructive volcanic eruption in the current history of the United States. Currently, it is the most active volcano in the whole of the United States.
This diagram illustrates the scale of the damage caused by the 1980 Mount St. Helens eruption. Ranging from pyroclastic flows and mud flows to the initial eruption, Mount St. Helens had a variety of deadly tools at its disposals which wreaked havoc on Washington and the world.
Causes
As seen in this diagram, the Cascade Ranges which includes the famous volcano of Mount St. Helens is situated above the converging Juan de Fuca plate and North American plate. The Juan de Fuca plate which is oceanic crust, therefore being denser than the continental North American plate subducts, creating a subduction zone. As the Juan de Fuca plate enters the mantle, the friction increasing the heat by a substantial amount melts the sinking plate, creating new magma. This magma rises through cracks found in the Earth's mantle and creates a magma reservoir/chamber where the magma continues to accumulate, creating bulges in the volcano until it is released in one violent blast.
Environmental Impacts
It was extremely fortunate that when the volcano finally erupted, it had been on a Sunday where not many people were working near the volcano. Due to the rich forestry that Mount St. Helens provides, there are several logging camps situated nearby. If the eruption had occurred during a working hour, the death tolls would have been significantly higher. Mount St. Helens erupted in a unusual way. Instead of releasing its magma and clouds of ash and pumice vertically into the air, the bulge which had been growing on the volcano collapsed under a completely unexpected 5.1 magnitude earthquake which resulted in a lateral blast. The volcano released its magma through the side of the volcano in conjunction with the pyroclastic flows. Every single tree within the a 25 kilometers range was either completely destroyed or flattened. After the catastrophic event, roughly 10 million trees had to replanted in order to replenish the trees which had been destroyed. The vast clouds of ash which were ejaculated out of the volcano fell onto the nearby areas, falling into the rivers. This ultimately clogged the water systems and raised the water temperature, which resulted in the underwater life dying such as the salmon. Additionally, the ash destroyed roughly 250 kilometers of high quality fish grounds. Nothing organic survived by the blast radius as well, as all natural animals had been killed while caught in the blast. Roughly 12% of the total crop produced after the eruption was ruined by the falling ash and dust. The vast ash cloud which had risen from the eruption eventually circled the entire globe, lowering the average temperature, causing several problems to arise.
Social Impacts
It was recorded that the total number of deaths was to be 61, although this would obviously have been higher if it had been a working day at the logging camps. As the crops had been drastically affected by the ash and dust caused by the eruption, the crop industry had been affected along with the fish industry in which not only had the streams and fish died, a fish hatchery within the blast radius had been destroyed as well.
Economic Impacts
The several cases of damage caused towards human settlements and facilities along with the complete obliteration of the 25 kilometer radius meant that the tourism declined at huge amounts. As the tourism decreased, external flow of money into the local government decreased although more money was needed to repair and replant the damage caused from the eruption. In order to cover the funds needed to rebuild the area, the local government had to use money from its urban construction and social welfare budget. However, these caused another tirade of problems as the average standards of lives for families grew much lower, while a number of the low-income families were unable to maintain their small support towards their families. Additionally, the ash which had circled the globe would have been the thickest nearer to the blast radius, which disrupted import and export of goods, especially through plane transport, the most fastest and efficient method to transfer goods.
Effects on a MEDC (More Economically Developed Country)
Although much losses were prevented through scientists being able to predict the earthquake through methods such as the usage of seismometers, satellites, monitoring bulges in the volcano and recording the levels of sulphur dioxide present, the economic and environmental impacts were still severe. The rich forestry had been obliterated along with all its wildlife, while the ash limited importing and exporting, which was necessary for Washington to recover from the catastrophic eruption. Due to the relatively advanced communication systems in place, Washington was able to rely its problems throughout the world, receiving professional help faster compared to a LEDC.
It was extremely fortunate that when the volcano finally erupted, it had been on a Sunday where not many people were working near the volcano. Due to the rich forestry that Mount St. Helens provides, there are several logging camps situated nearby. If the eruption had occurred during a working hour, the death tolls would have been significantly higher. Mount St. Helens erupted in a unusual way. Instead of releasing its magma and clouds of ash and pumice vertically into the air, the bulge which had been growing on the volcano collapsed under a completely unexpected 5.1 magnitude earthquake which resulted in a lateral blast. The volcano released its magma through the side of the volcano in conjunction with the pyroclastic flows. Every single tree within the a 25 kilometers range was either completely destroyed or flattened. After the catastrophic event, roughly 10 million trees had to replanted in order to replenish the trees which had been destroyed. The vast clouds of ash which were ejaculated out of the volcano fell onto the nearby areas, falling into the rivers. This ultimately clogged the water systems and raised the water temperature, which resulted in the underwater life dying such as the salmon. Additionally, the ash destroyed roughly 250 kilometers of high quality fish grounds. Nothing organic survived by the blast radius as well, as all natural animals had been killed while caught in the blast. Roughly 12% of the total crop produced after the eruption was ruined by the falling ash and dust. The vast ash cloud which had risen from the eruption eventually circled the entire globe, lowering the average temperature, causing several problems to arise.
Social Impacts
It was recorded that the total number of deaths was to be 61, although this would obviously have been higher if it had been a working day at the logging camps. As the crops had been drastically affected by the ash and dust caused by the eruption, the crop industry had been affected along with the fish industry in which not only had the streams and fish died, a fish hatchery within the blast radius had been destroyed as well.
Economic Impacts
The several cases of damage caused towards human settlements and facilities along with the complete obliteration of the 25 kilometer radius meant that the tourism declined at huge amounts. As the tourism decreased, external flow of money into the local government decreased although more money was needed to repair and replant the damage caused from the eruption. In order to cover the funds needed to rebuild the area, the local government had to use money from its urban construction and social welfare budget. However, these caused another tirade of problems as the average standards of lives for families grew much lower, while a number of the low-income families were unable to maintain their small support towards their families. Additionally, the ash which had circled the globe would have been the thickest nearer to the blast radius, which disrupted import and export of goods, especially through plane transport, the most fastest and efficient method to transfer goods.
Effects on a MEDC (More Economically Developed Country)
Although much losses were prevented through scientists being able to predict the earthquake through methods such as the usage of seismometers, satellites, monitoring bulges in the volcano and recording the levels of sulphur dioxide present, the economic and environmental impacts were still severe. The rich forestry had been obliterated along with all its wildlife, while the ash limited importing and exporting, which was necessary for Washington to recover from the catastrophic eruption. Due to the relatively advanced communication systems in place, Washington was able to rely its problems throughout the world, receiving professional help faster compared to a LEDC.