Mount St. Helens Belches Steam AnewMOUNT ST. HELENS NATIONAL MONUMENT, Wash. — Mount St. Helens (search) blew off more steam Monday, shooting a billowing white plume several hundred feet above the volcano and thrilling hundreds of visitors who had gathered below the rumbling mountain.
"Wow. It was amazing," said 9-year-old Alex Turchiano, who watched from a nearby visitors center. "I was hoping to see lava so I could see the trees fall down and the lava flow into the water. I wanted to see what it was going to do — whether it would stop or keep going."
Scientists, who continued to warn that the volcano could blow at any moment, stopped short of calling the steam burst an actual eruption, saying no volcanic material apparently was emitted. The steam quickly dissipated and did not threaten any structures near Mount St. Helens.
Even if a larger eruption comes, officials say there was little or no chance of a repeat of the mountain's lethal 1980 explosion, or Hawaiian-style lava flows. The eruption 24 years ago blew 1,300 feet off the top of the peak, killed 57 people and coated much of the Pacific Northwest with ash.
Since Sept. 23, thousands of tiny earthquakes have shaken the mountain and several steam eruptions have occurred, the most seismic activity at the peak since the months following the 1980 blast. A burst of ash and steam on Friday was followed Saturday by a smaller plume of steam and a volcanic tremor. A smaller extended volcanic vibration was detected Sunday.
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