Location

Mount St. Helens is located in northwest U. S. A. in Washington State. Mount St. Helens is part of the Cascade Mountain range. The mountain overlooks a small lake, called 'Spirit Lake'.

Causes

There were many causes of the 1980 eruption. The main causes were the series of small earthquakes which shook the mountain in the months before the actual eruption. The earthquakes were caused by pressurized magma which was continually rising up the mountain .

The magma opened up cracks in the mountain to continue rising to the dome. The this directly caused the earthquakes, maybe over 10,000 in total. The crater of the mountain was tightly 'plugged' by the solidified lava of a previous eruption causing the magma to force through another route. The magma appeared to be coming through the north side of the mountain as a bulge began to...