Logo link to homepage

Report on Huaynaputina (Peru) — 19 February-25 February 2020


Huaynaputina

Smithsonian Institution / US Geological Survey
Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 19 February-25 February 2020
Managing Editor: Sally Sennert.

Please cite this report as:

Global Volcanism Program, 2020. Report on Huaynaputina (Peru) (Sennert, S, ed.). Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 19 February-25 February 2020. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey.

Weekly Report (19 February-25 February 2020)

Huaynaputina

Peru

16.6144°S, 70.8542°W; summit elev. 4679 m

All times are local (unless otherwise noted)


IGP reported that during 11 and 20-21 February small- to moderate-sized lahars descended the El Volcán drainage, on the S flank of Huaynaputina, and traveled to within 500 m of Quinistaquillas, in the province of Sánchez Cerro, Moquegua region.

Geological Summary. Huaynaputina (whose name means "new volcano") was the source of the largest historical eruption of South America in 1600 CE. It has no prominent topographic expression and lies within a 2.5-km-wide collapse depression and further excavated by glaciers within a Tertiary to Pleistocene edifice. Three overlapping ash cones with craters up to 100 m deep were constructed during the 1600 CE eruption on the floor of the older crater, whose outer flanks are heavily mantled by ash deposits from the 1600 eruption. This powerful fissure-fed eruption may have produced nearly 30 km3 of dacitic tephra, including pyroclastic flows and surges that traveled 13 km to the E and SE. Lahars reached the Pacific Ocean, 120 km away. The eruption caused substantial damage to the major cities of Arequipa and Moquengua.

Source: Instituto Geofísico del Perú (IGP)