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Report on El Misti (Peru) — 14 February-20 February 2024


El Misti

Smithsonian Institution / US Geological Survey
Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 14 February-20 February 2024
Managing Editor: Sally Sennert.

Please cite this report as:

Global Volcanism Program, 2024. Report on El Misti (Peru) (Sennert, S, ed.). Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 14 February-20 February 2024. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey.

Weekly Report (14 February-20 February 2024)

El Misti

Peru

16.294°S, 71.409°W; summit elev. 5822 m

All times are local (unless otherwise noted)


Instituto Geofísico del Perú (IGP) reported that a lahar descended the SE flank of El Misti at 1905 on 20 February. The public was warned to stay away from drainages and roads on that flank.

Geological Summary. El Misti is a symmetrical andesitic stratovolcano with nested summit craters that towers above the city of Arequipa, Peru. The modern symmetrical cone, constructed within a small 1.5 x 2 km wide summit caldera that formed between about 13,700 and 11,300 years ago, caps older Pleistocene volcanoes that underwent caldera collapse about 50,000 years ago. A large scoria cone has grown with the 830-m-wide outer summit crater. At least 20 tephra-fall deposits and numerous pyroclastic-flow deposits have been documented during the past 50,000 years, including a pyroclastic flow that traveled 12 km to the south about 2000 years ago. The most recent activity has been dominantly pyroclastic, and strong winds have formed a parabolic dune field of volcanic ash extending up to 20 km downwind. An eruption in the 15th century affected nearby Inca inhabitants. Some reports of historical eruptions may represent increased fumarolic activity.

Source: Instituto Geofísico del Perú (IGP)