45th anniversary: A look back at the eruption of Mount St. Helens

Forty-five years ago on May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens in the state of Washington violently erupted. Here’s a look at volcanoes, then and now.
The 1980 Mount St. Helens eruption began with a steady series of earthquakes in March. By April it began spewing smoke, massive landslides on the north side of the mountain began, as a massive bulge a half-mile wide crept six feet a day up the mountainside.
At 8:32 a.m. on May 18, a magnitude 5.1 earthquake centered below the mountain triggered one