1800 Eruption of St. Helens

Name: 1800 Eruption of St. Helens
Start: 1800
Location: St. Helens, United States

1800 · VEI 5 · Deaths: many

St. Helens in the United States erupted in 1800 with a Volcanic Explosivity Index of 5.

Where it erupted

St. Helens, United States, with its other significant eruptions.

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The eruption

Date: 1800
Volcano: St. Helens, stratovolcano
Country: United States
Volcanic Explosivity Index: 5, very large (eruption column over 25 km)
Killed by: Indirect deaths (disease, starvation, exposure)
Location: 46.200° N, 122.180° W

The toll

Deaths: Many (about 101 to 1,000)

Where the literature gives no number, NCEI records a description on a scale of 1 to 4, printed here in its words. Damage is in millions of US dollars of the year of the event, not adjusted for inflation.

What the record says

NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.

Oral tradition of NE Washington tribes noted many people starved to death the winter following the eruption. (reference #9675)

Other significant eruptions of St. Helens

Every eruption in 1800 The 1800s St. Helens Earthquakes near St. Helens

Sources

Volcanoes and significant eruptions from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, Global Historical Hazard Database, cited as NCEI/WDS, doi:10.7289/V5PN93H7. Public domain. Read 2026-09-24. Volcano numbers are the Smithsonian Institution’s Global Volcanism Program’s. NCEI event 3304.