A month prior to the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens , Voight was contacted by Rocky Crandell , a United States Geological Survey ( USGS ) employee working in the Vancouver office near the mountain . Crandell sought Voight 's expertise in landslides , hoping Voight would opine on a growing bulge , long , which had emerged on the mountain 's north face . In his reporting to Crandell and his associates , Voight said that the bulge could fail and collapse the volcano 's entire north sector . He suggested they begin monitoring the rate of movement of the bulge , worried that the collapse could trigger an eruption . He also advised hiring a local surveyor to take measurements , offending several of the geologists . Shortly after , Voight left the mountain and returned to teaching classes at Penn State . Before the eruption , he had sent his full report to the USGS , summarizing his predictions , depicting the failure of the bulge and the collapse of the mountain 's north side followed by a violent eruption . After a magnitude 5.1 earthquake centered directly below the north slope caused that part of the volcano to slide , Mount St. Helens erupted , causing $ 1.1 billion in damage and killing 57 people
1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens
1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens
Barry Voight