Photos: Mount St. Helens erupts on May 18, 1980

On May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens in Washington state erupted, killing 57 people, blasting more than 1,300 feet off its peak and raining volcanic ash for miles around. A magnitude-5.1 earthquake hit at 8:32 a.m. local time, causing the volcano’s north flank to collapse, which triggered the largest landslide in recorded history. That set off powerful explosions that sent ash, steam, rocks and volcanic gas upward and outward. The lateral blast scorched and flattened about 230 square miles of dense forest. Ash rose over 80,000 feet and rained down as far as 250 miles away in Spokane.