Documentary backdrop image for The Day Mount St. Helens Exploded (2026)

202655 minPGdocumentary

The Day Mount St. Helens Exploded

202655 minPGdocumentary

On May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens erupted in Washington State, resulting in 57 fatalities and raising questions about volcanic monitoring and disaster preparedness.

Genres

Channel: Documentary Overload

The Day Mount St. Helens Exploded

2026• 55 minPG

Synopsis

On May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens erupted in Washington State, resulting in 57 fatalities and raising questions about volcanic monitoring and disaster preparedness.

Synopsis

MOUNT ST. HELENS, THE BIG ERUPTION / On May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens, a volcano in the American West, erupted. It is one of the most destructive disasters ever recorded in the United States. 57 people lost their lives, some of whom were never found. Despite being closely monitored by scientists, how could such a catastrophe happen in the heart of this mountain?

Comments

What are people saying?

Play More Like This

Facing The Killer Volcano (2011)

Facing The Killer Volcano

2011•1h28m•★7.0TMDB

After 200 years of dormancy, the Fugen-Dake volcano erupts in June 1991, leading to a crisis that claims several lives among those documenting the event.

Facing The Killer Volcano

Mount St. Helens Disaster: The Volcano That Shook America (2025)

Mount St. Helens Disaster: The Volcano That Shook America

On May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens erupted in Washington State, resulting in 57 fatalities and raising questions about volcanic monitoring and disaster preparedness.

Mount St. Helens Disaster: The Volcano That Shook America

The Eruption! Stories of Survival (2024)

The Eruption! Stories of Survival

2024•53m•★7.0TMDB

On December 9, 2019, around 100 people were on or near Whakaari/White Island when the volcano erupted, releasing deadly heat and toxic ash.

The Eruption! Stories of Survival

Mount St. Helens: The Most Destructive Eruption in The United States (2025)

Mount St. Helens: The Most Destructive Eruption in The United States

On May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens erupted in Washington State, resulting in 57 fatalities and marking one of the most destructive volcanic events in U.S. history.

Mount St. Helens: The Most Destructive Eruption in The United States

This place in time: The Mount St. Helens story (2015)

This place in time: The Mount St. Helens story

The May 18, 1980, eruption of Mount St. Helens in Washington's Gifford Pinchot National Forest is recounted through reenactments and personal recollections.

This place in time: The Mount St. Helens story

St. Helens: Out of the Ash (2005) (2015)

St. Helens: Out of the Ash (2005)

On May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens erupted, killing 57 people and drastically altering the environment in Washington State.

St. Helens: Out of the Ash (2005)

Mount St Helens: The Most Catastrophic Volcanic Eruption In US History (2025)

Mount St Helens: The Most Catastrophic Volcanic Eruption In US History

Mount St Helens erupts in 1980, causing the largest landslide in recorded history.

Mount St Helens: The Most Catastrophic Volcanic Eruption In US History

Mount St. Helens: Road to Recovery (2015)

Mount St. Helens: Road to Recovery

On May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens erupted, killing 26 people and leaving more than 40 missing in a blast zone covering approximately 100,000 acres.

Mount St. Helens: Road to Recovery

Pinatubo: The Volcano That Claimed 850 Lives (2026)

Pinatubo: The Volcano That Claimed 850 Lives

Mount Pinatubo erupted on June 14, 1991, resulting in 850 fatalities and significant global climatic impacts, prompting ongoing scientific analysis of the volcano.

Pinatubo: The Volcano That Claimed 850 Lives

Biggest Volcanic Eruptions | Mega Disasters (2021)

Biggest Volcanic Eruptions | Mega Disasters

In the past 60 years, volcanic eruptions have killed at least 27 scientists while they studied these powerful natural events.

Biggest Volcanic Eruptions | Mega Disasters

Explore The Day Mount St. Helens Exploded

Where else to watch

The Eruption! Stories of Survival (2024)

The Eruption! Stories of Survival

2024•53m•★7.0TMDB

On December 9, 2019, around 100 people were on or near Whakaari/White Island when the volcano erupted, releasing deadly heat and toxic ash.

The Eruption! Stories of Survival

No digital watch option in your country

Fire Mountain: The Eruption and Rebirth of Mount St. Helens (1997)

Fire Mountain: The Eruption and Rebirth of Mount St. Helens

1997•59m•★10.0TMDB

540 million tons of ash and volcanic rock were ejected into the atmosphere during the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens, devastating 230 square miles.

Fire Mountain: The Eruption and Rebirth of Mount St. Helens

Surviving the Mount St. Helens Disaster (2020)

Surviving the Mount St. Helens Disaster

2020•45m•★6.2TMDB

57 people died during the May 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens, marking it as the deadliest volcanic event in U.S. history.

Surviving the Mount St. Helens Disaster

The Volcano: Rescue from Whakaari (2022)

The Volcano: Rescue from Whakaari

2022•1h37m•★7.2TMDB

Twenty-two people died and many others were injured during the volcanic eruption of Whakaari / White Island in New Zealand on December 9, 2019.

The Volcano: Rescue from Whakaari

The Eruption of Mount St. Helens! (1980)

The Eruption of Mount St. Helens!

1980•28m•★6.9TMDB

1,300 feet of the volcano erupted into the sky during the Mount St. Helens disaster, changing the region's environment forever.

The Eruption of Mount St. Helens!

V-Day: Volcanic Planet (2020)

V-Day: Volcanic Planet

2020•1h28m•★10.0TMDB

Over 1,400 active volcanoes on Earth could erupt simultaneously, leading to tsunamis and severe climate change.

V-Day: Volcanic Planet

Browse more like this

Mount St. Helens Disaster: The Volcano That Shook America (2025)

Mount St. Helens Disaster: The Volcano That Shook America

On May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens erupted in Washington State, resulting in 57 fatalities and raising questions about volcanic monitoring and disaster preparedness.

Mount St. Helens Disaster: The Volcano That Shook America

No digital watch option in your country

Mount St. Helens: The Most Destructive Eruption in The United States (2025)

Mount St. Helens: The Most Destructive Eruption in The United States

On May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens erupted in Washington State, resulting in 57 fatalities and marking one of the most destructive volcanic events in U.S. history.

Mount St. Helens: The Most Destructive Eruption in The United States

No digital watch option in your country

Mount St Helens: The Most Catastrophic Volcanic Eruption In US History (2025)

Mount St Helens: The Most Catastrophic Volcanic Eruption In US History

Mount St Helens erupts in 1980, causing the largest landslide in recorded history.

Mount St Helens: The Most Catastrophic Volcanic Eruption In US History

No digital watch option in your country

Pinatubo: The Volcano That Claimed 850 Lives (2026)

Pinatubo: The Volcano That Claimed 850 Lives

Mount Pinatubo erupted on June 14, 1991, resulting in 850 fatalities and significant global climatic impacts, prompting ongoing scientific analysis of the volcano.

Pinatubo: The Volcano That Claimed 850 Lives

No digital watch option in your country

Volcano: Nature's Inferno (2014)

Volcano: Nature's Inferno

2014•52m•★10.0TMDB

Volcanologists from the United States Geological Survey study eruptions at Mount Pinatubo and Mount Unzen to predict volcanic activity and reduce risks.

Volcano: Nature's Inferno

Des Bishop: Breaking China (2014)

Des Bishop: Breaking China

2014•52m•★10.0TMDB

Des Bishop moves to China for a year to learn Mandarin and perform a one-man stand-up comedy show for a Chinese audience.

Des Bishop: Breaking China

Deadly Peaks (1997)

Deadly Peaks

1997•1h30m•★10.0TMDB

More active and erupting volcanoes were documented by Katia and Maurice Krafft than any other scientists, capturing their dangerous work before their deaths in 1991.

Fire on Heimaey (1990)

Fire on Heimaey

1990•29m•★6.3TMDB

Approximately 30% of the houses in Heimaey were destroyed during a volcanic eruption that lasted five months, beginning in January 1973.

Fire on Heimaey

Remnants of Everest: The 1996 Tragedy (2007)

Remnants of Everest: The 1996 Tragedy

2007•1h41m•★8.2TMDB

Five climbers from three teams died during a severe storm on Mount Everest on May 10, 1996, one of the deadliest blizzards in the mountain's history.

Remnants of Everest: The 1996 Tragedy

Is this your film?

If you made this film or hold the rights to it, we'd like to talk. We can license it and pay you a share of what it earns.

License it with us →