Today, Mt. St. Helens today is a beautiful expansive forest with renewed ground cover as well as abundant wildlife and a newer, albeit, more shallow lake called Spirit lake which was gone for a period after the 1980 volcanic eruption. Immediately after the eruption in 1980, the forest floor was covered in tephra. (this is volcanic ash and rock). The entire landscape was grey. The resulting landslide raised the lakebed 200 feet, and caused the Toutle river to raise 20 feet, wiping out homes, businesses, and killing some 57 people as it flooded the area. This whole area is now 110,000-acre monument called Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument.
In the months preceding the 1980 eruption, there were several earthquakes, some hitting 5 on the Richter scale, and scientists were predicting a possible eruption. There was much skepticism from locals because the volcano had been dormant for 123 years prior to 1980. The pre-warnings of earthquakes make sense, as the tectonic plate movement which causes these major earth movements are related to both earthquakes and volcanoes. There was a large bulge in the northeast side of the mountain prior to the explosion indicating where the greatest buildup of energy existed. Unlike our idea of the volcano being a perfectly centered crater in the top, you can see from the picture that the incredible buildup of energy simply found its way out where it could.
Attached archival photos of before and after pictures of this magnificent volcanic mountain. https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&id=6AE2223BDF63AC82903C98D4E1825ADB23919089&thid=OIP.icax8uMwh_xxbCGCxU7negHaEn&mediaurl=http%3A%2F%2F3.bp.blogspot.com%2F-ivsswqshAhA%2FUObvmv-w8yI%2FAAAAAAAAAFY%2FvsucyFSb3iQ%2Fs1600%2Fmount%2Bst%2Bhelen%2Bbefore%2Band%2Bafter.jpg&exph=664&expw=1065&q=mt+st+helens+before+and+after&selectedindex=0&qpvt=mt+st+helens+before+and+after&ajaxhist=0&vt=0&eim=1,2,6
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