On this day, 45 years ago, on May 19, 1980 (April 6, 1980 in the lunar calendar), Mount St. Helens erupted. Ash floated 500 miles after the volcanic eruption. Mount St. Helens suddenly erupted on May 19, 1980, with 60,000 feet of ash blackening the sky. As far as Walla Walla, 160 miles to the east, at least eight people were killed. Geologists inspected the long-dormant volcano for several weeks after it spewed steam and soot. At 8:39 a.m. that day, with an explosion, the volcano began to erupt, blowing off the summit of a 9677-foot-high peak, and the shock could be felt 100 miles away. Floods and billowing mud caused by the volcanic eruption poured into the Tuttle Valley, drowning several residents who had not left. More than a dozen places in the forest around the volcano caught fire, and the fire was difficult to control. Geological experts say the eruption was caused by two earthquakes that occurred before the eruption.