This 16mm film documentary sees the monster eruption of Mount St. Helens in May 1980 mostly through the eyes of the geologists who gathered at the site to learn what they could. Despite their expertise and experience, none predicted that a massive landslide would uncork the eruption sideways, devastating 24 square miles of forested land and killing 57 people.
Geologists are shown doing their best to answer the public clamor for information and prediction as the eruption and earthquake sequence continued over the following months. The film concludes with an expedition into the blast zone, as biology begins its slow recovery.
