40th anniversary of Mount St. Helens eruption to take place virtually amid COVID-19

The Pacific Northwest Seismic Network is hosting a virtual event on YouTube to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Mount St. Helens volcanic eruption.

The event is taking place 6:30-8 p.m. on Monday, May 18. The live stream will be broadcast from the seismic network’s YouTube Channel. Following the presentation, four speakers will host a live Q&A on the network’s Facebook page.

Presenters include three college professors and a scientist from across the Pacific Northwest. The presenters will discuss tectonics, volcanoes and volcanic hazards in the region and how the science has evolved over the past 40 years.

Dr. Jackie Caplan-Auerbach is a geophysics professor at Western Washington University. Dr. Josef Dufek is a professor at the University of Oregon, teaching volcanology in the Department of Earth Sciences. Dr. Steve Malone is a research professor emeritus in the Department of Earth and Space Sciences at the University of Washington. Finally, Dr. Seth Moran is a scientist in charge of the Cascade Volcano Observatory of the U.S. Geological Survey. All four presenters will provide perspectives from not only their field of study but also what it was like to live through the eruption.

“The mountain erupted at 8:39 a.m., shooting ash and smoke nine miles into the sky,” a Bellingham Herald story from May 19, 1980, wrote. “It took about 20 minutes for the sounds and tremors to make their way north.”

Ginger Worthen, a Bellingham resident at the time of the eruption, said it sounded like “a sonic boom” and she thought some Canadians were setting off explosions to celebrate the queen’s birthday holiday.

Seismic network communications director Bill Steele can be reached for more information about the event at wsteele@uw.eduor or 206-685-5880.

This story was originally published May 17, 2020 at 5:00 AM.