[pct-l] Hi everybody,, Iam back.!

[hiker at godlikebuthumble.com (Hiker)]

U.S. Geological Survey, Vancouver, Washington
University of Washington, Pacific Northwest Seismograph Network, Seattle, 
Washington

Mount St. Helens Information Statement,
Tuesday, March 8, 2005, 6:00 P.M. PST

A small explosive event at Mount St. Helens volcano began at approximately 
5:25 p.m. PST. Pilot reports indicate that the resulting steam-and-ash 
plume reached an altitude of about 36,000 feet above sea level within a few 
minutes and drifted downwind to the east-northeast. The principal event 
lasted about 30 minutes with intensity gradually declining throughout. The 
USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory lost radio signals from three monitoring 
stations in the crater soon after the event started. The cause of the 
outage won't be known until scientists can visit the crater tomorrow to 
assess the situation, weather permitting. The event followed a few hours of 
slightly increased earthquake activity that was noted but not interpreted 
as precursory activity. There were no other indications of an imminent 
change in activity.

The current hazard assessment for the ongoing eruption mentions the 
possibility of such events occurring without warning, and the assessment 
remains unchanged. The eruption could intensify suddenly or with little 
warning and produce explosions that cause hazardous conditions within 
several miles of the crater and farther downwind. Small lahars could 
suddenly descend the Toutle River if triggered by heavy rain or by 
interaction of hot rocks with snow and ice. These lahars pose a negligible 
hazard below the Sediment Retention Structure (SRS) but could pose a hazard 
along the river channel upstream.