Volcano rumbling

last updated 8 January 2015

Mount St. Helens, Wash.

Mount St. Helens belched steam thousands of feet into the air this week, and geologists warned it could erupt at any time. The volcano rumbled as molten rock bubbled up inside, putting pressure on the lava dome that corks its crater. The last eruption, in 1980, killed 57 people and blanketed much of the Northwest in ash. But the coming one isn’t expected to be as bad, and no mass evacuation has been ordered. Seismologists said the eruption might not come for weeks, and that there was a chance it wouldn’t come at all. Still, thousands of tourists gathered nearby, hoping to witness an explosion that could change the mountain’s shape. “It’s just kind of a primal connection to creation,” one spectator said.