Mt. St. Helens burped! - DPChallenge Forums

Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM

10/01/2004 04:21:34 PM · #1

Everybody got excited and ran to the windows to look, but there was only a small cloud coming from the mountain. Not very exciting. My wife told me that I should take my camera to the office with me today because we've been expecting an eruption, but I left it at home. Sorry, but no pics from me. However, they're expecting more eruptions at any time, so maybe I'll get lucky.

MSNBC: Steam eruption under way at Mount St. Helens

Message edited by author 2004-10-01 16:25:05.

DianaB

Canon EOS-20D

10/01/2004 04:24:39 PM · #2

After reading the thread title "Mt St Helens burped!", I wondered for just one second whether it had anything to do with the wacky food challenge - LOL

cpanaioti

Canon EOS-40D

Canon EF 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 DO IS USM

10/01/2004 05:37:00 PM · #3

They're predicting a small erruption within the next few days. There's been seismic activity with readings up to 3.3.

Message edited by author 2004-10-01 17:37:16.

joanns

Fujifilm FinePix S5 Pro

10/01/2004 06:58:04 PM · #4

Originally posted by cpanaioti:

They're predicting a small erruption within the next few days. There's been seismic activity with readings up to 3.3.

My mother in Utah called me on my cell phone at work to see if I was OK. She told me that the volcano had erupted.

My boss said that even though the eruption was just a "burp" compared to the eruption 20 years ago, it could be just the beginning of a much more important event. 20 years ago, the big eruption was proceeded by smaller ones.

MadMordegon

10/01/2004 06:59:38 PM · #5

Here is a webcam of the girl, updated about every 5 minutes. Last night you could see lava and fire coming out of the top right side.

ScottK

Canon EOS-350D Rebel XT

Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM

10/01/2004 07:09:07 PM · #6

I'm no expert, and can't claim for sure how "expert" the expert I saw on the news a couple of days ago was. But according to that guy, in geological terms, there hasn't been enough time for the amount of presure to build that would be required to trigger anything close to what happened in 1980. I guess at least there aren't any people living as close as there were then if this does turn into something big.

And this "burp" is a nice diversion from the gas being generated on the political scene at the moment. :)

Imagineer

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM

10/01/2004 07:16:18 PM · #7

Talking of seismic activity has anyone ever experienced an earthquake? I did - a 5.9 in Cyprus. Very strange, humbling experience.

Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM

10/01/2004 07:40:28 PM · #8

Originally posted by Imagineer:

Talking of seismic activity has anyone ever experienced an earthquake? I did - a 5.9 in Cyprus. Very strange, humbling experience.

I lived through several quakes growing up in SoCal USA. When the ground beneath your feet starts shaking violently and growls like hundreds of freight trains thundering past your ears it really gets your attention. I remember watching the ground during a big one in San Bernardino--it was rolling in huge, long waves as far as we could see. It was facinating, but scary as hell too.

But, if you live with them for very long you actually get used to them. They happen so often in SoCal that most people pay little attention until they hit 4-5 on the scale.

TooCool

Canon EOS-300D Rebel

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II

10/01/2004 07:46:20 PM · #9

There are certain things that are supposed to be 'given'. The sun comes up in the morning. At night there are stars. They sky is blue. And the GROUND DOESN'T MOVE!

ScottK

Canon EOS-350D Rebel XT

10/01/2004 07:46:25 PM · #10

Originally posted by Imagineer:

Talking of seismic activity has anyone ever experienced an earthquake? I did - a 5.9 in Cyprus. Very strange, humbling experience.

Aside from the occasional minor shakes we get in SoCal, I lived about 100-150 miles from the quakes that hit California east of LA back in '92 - one in Joshua Tree out in the Mojave and one up near Big Bear in the San Bernadino mountains. If I recall right, they were both in the 7 range. The first woke us up in the early morning and shook the house pretty well, but not enough to do any real damage (a few hairline cracks in the walls). Later that morning we were at church when the second one hit. We were upstairs in a two story steel framed building, and its amazing how what once seemed like a very solid structure suddenly felt very flimsy and rickety. It was actually kind of an exciting ride from a distance, but I wouldn't want to be too close. We also felt the Northridge earthquake, but not quite as strongly. (Another early morning quake. Since we've lived here, all the best quakes have happened while we're asleep.)

Message edited by author 2004-10-01 19:48:56.

Elemmennope

Canon EOS-300D Rebel

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II

10/01/2004 07:52:24 PM · #11

There's a cool video of the little eruption here.

I've been in Portland, Oregon for about four years now and have felt two earthquakes since being here. One was in the 3s somewhere and was just a jolt that lasted a couple seconds. The other I think one was a 4.1 and there was definitely a little shaking. It lasted 5-10 seconds maybe and was over before I even realized what it was. I was too distracted by the noise to really notice the movement. I never realized before how *noisy* earthquakes are, even smaller ones. The sounds of all the walls creaking, the window blinds rattling, doors in my apartment rattling, and maybe the ground itself... and then just a touch of vertigo at the end when my mind registered what was happening. It was very surreal. And enough for me thanks. Nothing bigger than that please!

Imagineer

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM

10/01/2004 08:12:13 PM · #12

It's fascinating to hear those accounts of quakes - I too found it to be a noisy affair and went through some irrational questioning (trains where there were no train tracks, etc.) before I worked out what it was!

Micknewton - when you say you saw rolling waves, do you mean at sea or over land? That sounds utterly bizarre - what did you actually see?

jenesis

Canon EOS-300D Rebel

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II

10/01/2004 08:37:40 PM · #13

Originally posted by Imagineer:

Talking of seismic activity has anyone ever experienced an earthquake? I did - a 5.9 in Cyprus. Very strange, humbling experience.

Growing up in San Diego, I've experienced several earthquakes and as MickNewton said, you tend to get used to them. Sometimes, if they're not too major, they can even be a little fun! I have to say, now living in Georgia and never having experienced a Tornado Warning before, I can tell you that I'll take an earthquake over a tornado ANYDAY!!! And I haven't even experienced a tornado, just the sitting around in the basement waiting for it to happen or not. At least earthquakes are quick and spontaneous. :-)

Must be kind of exciting to be close enough to see what goes on with Mt. St. Helens. It is in kind of in a rural area, right? So that major damage to any folks would be minimal? I hope so, that is one thing that I wouldn't want to deal with, at all.

cpanaioti

Canon EOS-40D

Canon EF 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 DO IS USM

10/01/2004 08:44:39 PM · #14

I was living in Cranbrook British Columbia the last time Mt St Helens errupted and we got a dusting of ash.

Canon 12x IS USM (S3 IS built-in Lens) -- 36-432mm (35mm EQ)

10/01/2004 09:35:02 PM · #15

Originally posted by Imagineer:

We were in Bloomington California at the time, which is near San Bernardino and about 60 miles from the ocean. What we saw were actual shock waves moving through the ground. The phenomenon is called liquefaction and it can be extremely destructive (and damn scary too.)

GeneralE

Canon PowerShot S3 IS

10/02/2004 09:16:30 PM · #16

The USGS is currently predicting a 50-70% chance of a significant eruption within the next 48 hours, with the first evacuation of the Observation Center under way.

SDW

Canon EOS-60D

Tamron AF 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 XR Di LD Aspherical IF for Canon

10/04/2004 01:29:14 PM · #17

Anyone watching the coverage of Mount St. Helens? I believe they have issued a no fly zone around it by commercial aircraft, just about 2 minutes ago you could see an aircraft flying from top left of the screen above the plumb towards an angle to the right. The aircraft had to be above 32,000 ft because of the exhaust trail that was not long. Just noticed, I guess that pilot didnâ��t get the message

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM

10/04/2004 01:54:11 PM · #18

Originally posted by SDW65:

I'm currently in downtown Portland, approximately 60 miles or so from the mountain, and I have my camera this time. But, the whole Columbia River valley is fogged in right now and I can't see a thing. According to the news radio, the mountain just had another small steam and ash eruption, similar to last Friday's eruption. They are expecting a significant eruption at any time though. If I manage to get any pics I'll post some here.

Message edited by author 2004-10-04 13:54:51.

LoudDog

Canon EOS-350D Rebel XT

10/04/2004 01:55:31 PM · #19

Volcano cam - //www.fs.fed.us/gpnf/volcanocams/msh/

dwoolridge

10/04/2004 02:20:15 PM · #20

Bah! They're making a mountain out of a molehill.
Oh, wait a second...

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM

10/04/2004 03:18:23 PM · #21

Originally posted by dwoolridge:

Bah! They're making a mountain out of a molehill.
Oh, wait a second...

In the 1980 eruption St. Helens released an amount of energy equivalent to 27,000 Hiroshima-sized atomic bombs. That's one hell of a molehill if you ask me. :)

soup

Canon EOS-30D

10/04/2004 03:19:25 PM · #22

and the moles residing - were spread up to 600 miles away.

SDW

Canon EOS-60D

Tamron AF 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 XR Di LD Aspherical IF for Canon

10/04/2004 03:30:46 PM · #23

I live in Georgia about 2700 miles away from Mount St. Helens. When the 1980 eruption occurred the ash impacted us as well[on a small scale]. Don't be surprised if in a few days to weeks we see something on a grand scale in terms of volcano eruptions. Just my guess, but She is a sleeping giant and her location will make it effect most of the United States because of the jet stream(s).

Message edited by author 2004-10-04 15:31:53.