Mount St. Helens erupts after 18 years

　　Mount St. Helens in Washington erupts in the afternoon of March 8, 2005. The image is from a remote DomeCam from the Sugar Bowl area of the volcano taken by the United States Geological Survey.

Mount St. Helens in Washington releases a plume of ash during an eruption on March 8, 2005.

　　Mount St. Helens in the US has erupted for the first time in 18 years.

　　Small earthquakes resumed within hours of the blast, suggesting pressure inside the mountain was rebuilding.

　　Scientists say there could be more steam eruptions soon.

　　Scientists had been predicting just such an eruption for days because of thousands of earthquakes and signs that the rock inside the crater was expanding rapidly.

　　Few people live near the mountain, about 100 miles south of Seattle. The closest structure is the Johnston Ridge Observatory, about five miles from the crater.

　　USGS seismologist Bob Norris says magma could be moving underground and he would not be surprised to see more explosions in the next days or weeks.