May 18, 1980, was a horrible day. An earthquake triggered the largest landslide ever recorded on Mount St. Helens in Washington State. It was followed by a volcanic eruption that took 57 lives.

US President Jimmy Carter surveyed the damage and said, "Someone said this area looked like a moonscape. But the moon looks more like a golf course compared to what's up there." The land resembled a scene from the apocalypse—hundreds of square miles were reduced to wasteland, and the damage was valued over a billion US dollars.