From Quiet Mountain to Cataclysm: The 1980 Eruption of Mount St. Helens

On May 22, 1960 at 3:11 p.m. local time, a magnitude 9.5 earthquake struck the coast of southern Chile. It was the largest earthquake ever recorded and what followed was not a single disaster but a cascade: tsunamis, landslides, flooding, and a volcanic eruption. Please scroll down for timestamps and safety information. 👇 Important message: We want to remove ads from the QuakeFeed app ASAP! We'd love to remove them from our podcast, too. Here's how you can support the work we're doing and keep our servers up and running: 1) Subscribe to QuakeFeed Premium; 2) Rate / review QuakeFeed in the App Store; 3) Rate / review this podcast in Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc; 4) Subscribe to our free Substack and consider pledging a future paid subscription. 5) Share this with your friends so that we can grow our audience. Thank you 🙏 🫶 ⏱️ Timestamps 00:00 – Introduction 00:18 – Date, magnitude, location 00:35 – Tectonic setting: Peru-Chile Trench 01:13 – Foreshock sequence 01:38 – M9.5 mainshock; fault rupture 01:55 – Earthquake impact in Valdivia 02:11 – Local tsunami 02:36 – Third wave largest and most destructive 02:52 – Ocean-wide tsunami 03:05 – Hawaii tsunami warning 03:24 – Hilo, Hawaii tragedy 03:48 – Landslides; Riñihue Lake 04:29 – Cordón Caulle eruption 04:47 – Learn more + closing thoughts

Linda and Sequoya give an overview of the new Post ShakeAlert Message Summaries and answer an FAQ regarding tsuami info. Then James and Sequoya tell some jokes because June is just around the corner, so you know what that means… Yes, we're bringing dad jokes back to QuakeFeed in honor of Father's Day! Lastly, we discuss whether or not Linda is an AI or a human being, and the emails that inspired our upcoming YouTube series. Stay tuned for that! Please scroll down and explore the safety resources below. 👇 This podcast is ad-supported because our dream is to remove ads from the QuakeFeed app by the end of 2026. Ads in podcasts are more relevant and less intrusive. If you support the work we're doing and would like to help us keep going, the best way is to subscribe to QuakeFeed Premium. Other things you can do are to rate / review QuakeFeed in the App Store and the Podcast app, and share this with your friends so that we can grow our audience. Thank you 🙏 🫶 ⏱️ Timestamps 00:00 – Intro joke + where have we been?! 01:06 – Review of recent QuakeFeed updates 02:03 – What are Post ShakeAlert Message Summaries? 02:53 – EEW Emergency Alerts in iOS 03:54 – OMG Sequoya glazes Linda?! What is going on here? 04:02 – Back to the Post ShakeAlert Message Summaries 05:13 – Example: Brawley, CA quake on 5/10 06:16 – Some respectful feedback 07:15 – Dad jokes 07:51 – We're bringing dad jokes back for Father's Day! 08:23 – How to send us your best jokes 08:33 – Where's the blue wave?! 09:07 – How tsunami info works in QuakeFeed 09:52 – Our theory about why fewer quakes are being flagged 10:22 – What is alarm fatigue? 11:02 – What kinds of earthquakes cause tsunami? 11:40 – Tsunami safety info 12:04 – What inspired our new YouTube series? 12:45 – Is Linda an AI?! 13:58 – Sequoya is back to roasting Linda 14:36 – Coming soon: QF origin story 14:47 – What's next + closing thoughts 16:04 – Blooper… we're so cute 🥰

QuakeFeed version 6.6.2 is now available in the App Store. This update contains a new feature that we're excited about because it brings us closer to our goal of making the QuakeFeed community the smartest, most knowledgeable group of earthquake nerds on the planet! Have you ever noticed the small icons in the QuakeFeed earthquake list? Here are some examples:

Join Linda and Sequoya as they introduce QuakeFeed v6.5.8, a bug fix update that brings back a fan favorite: Dad Jokes! For a limited time, we've replaced the ads in the earthquake list with holiday-themed humor. Earthquakes are serious – it's true – but your earthquake app doesn't have to feel bah humbug all the time. And you never know when a terrible pun might come to your rescue at a family gathering. Not a dad joke fan? (cough Scrooge! cough) QuakeFeed Premium subscribers can turn them off and enjoy a completely joke-free experience. Download QuakeFeed from the iOS App Store to track earthquakes, wildfires, and volcanoes – now with a side of family humor. ⏱️ Timestamps 00:00 – Welcome 00:23 – What's New in v6.5.8 01:01 – A Coarse Joke 01:15 – A Cute Joke 01:37 – A Gross Joke 01:44 – For the Scrooges 02:07 – Closing + Oops!

In this episode, we begin with Hurricane Melissa, which made landfall in Jamaica on October 28th as a Category 5 storm and then tore a path of destruction through the Caribbean. If you would like to help support disaster response and recover, please visit Charity Navigator. There you can find highly rated organizations that are helping those impacted by Hurricane Melissa. Then we continue with a QuakeFeed status update. We share our plan and timeline for the next few QuakeFed app updates – including how and when we plan to support iOS 26. We also talk about new content we creating, such as the On This Day in Earthquake History series. We close with a few words about why we think learning about historical earthquake events is important and helpful. ⏱️ Timestamps 00:00 - Welcome & Episode Overview 00:15 – Hurricane Melissa Timeline 00:45 – Melissa's Impact 01:25 – How to Support Melissa Recovery 01:49 – SK Calls Linda Rusty & Robotic 02:18 – What We've Been Working On 02:46 – Plan & Timeline for QuakeFeed Updates 04:03 – Cringey Joke 04:28 – New Help Docs & OTD EQ Series Content 05:09 – Why Learning About Historical EQ is Important 06:21 - Closing