Most Recent Weekly Report: 26 February-4 March 2025 Cite this Report

The Instituto Geofísico del Perú (IGP) reported that a lahar carrying blocks descended the El Volcán drainage, on the S flank of Huaynaputina, at 1825 on 2 March. The public was warned to stay away from the drainage and to be cautious when traveling along the Quinistaquillas-Sijuaya highway.

Source: Instituto Geofísico del Perú (IGP)

Weekly Reports - Index

2025: February
2024: February | March
2023: February
2020: February

26 February-4 March 2025 Cite this Report

The Instituto Geofísico del Perú (IGP) reported that a lahar carrying blocks descended the El Volcán drainage, on the S flank of Huaynaputina, at 1825 on 2 March. The public was warned to stay away from the drainage and to be cautious when traveling along the Quinistaquillas-Sijuaya highway.

Source: Instituto Geofísico del Perú (IGP)

12 February-18 February 2025 Cite this Report

The Instituto Geofísico del Perú (IGP) reported that several lahars carrying blocks descended the S flank of Huaynaputina during 11-17 February and traveled towards the Tambo River. The lahars were recorded at 1309 on 11 February, at 1725 on 14 February, at 1712 on 15 February, at 1813 on 16 February, and at 1546 on 17 February. The public was warned to stay away from the drainage and to be cautious when traveling along the Quinistaquillas-Sijuaya highway.

Source: Instituto Geofísico del Perú (IGP)

6 March-12 March 2024 Cite this Report

Instituto Geofísico del Perú (IGP) reported that at 1553 on 6 March a lahar descended the El Volcán drainage, on the S flank of Huaynaputina, and traveled towards the Tambo River. The public was warned to stay away from the drainage and to be cautious when traveling along the Quinistaquillas-Sijuaya highway.

Source: Instituto Geofísico del Perú (IGP)

28 February-5 March 2024 Cite this Report

IGP reported that at 1622 on 29 February and at 1436 on 3 March lahars descended the El Volcán drainage, on the S flank of Huaynaputina, and traveled towards the Tambo River. The public was warned to stay away from the drainage and to be cautious when traveling along the Quinistaquillas-Sijuaya highway.

Source: Instituto Geofísico del Perú (IGP)

8 February-14 February 2023 Cite this Report

IGP reported that on 4 February a small-to-medium lahar 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.

Source: Instituto Geofísico del Perú (IGP)

19 February-25 February 2020 Cite this Report

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.

Source: Instituto Geofísico del Perú (IGP)

The Global Volcanism Program has no Bulletin Reports available for Huaynaputina.

Basic Data Volcano Number Last Known Eruption Elevation Latitude Longitude 354030 1600 CE 4,679 m / 15,351 ft 16.6144°S 70.8542°W Morphology Volcano Landform Composite Volcano Types Stratovolcano Maar Lava dome(s) Rock Types Major Dacite Tectonic Setting Subduction zone Continental crust (> 25 km) Population Within 5 km Within 10 km Within 30 km Within 100 km 36 210 9,153 1,088,509

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. References The following references have all been used during the compilation of data for this volcano, it is not a comprehensive bibliography. Adams N K, de Silva S L, Self S, Salas G, Schubring S, Permenter J L, Arbesman K, 2001. The physical volcanology of the 1600 eruption of Huaynaputina, southern Peru. Bull Volcanol, 62: 493-518. Bullard F M, 1962. Volcanoes of Southern Peru. Bull Volcanol, 24: 443-453. de Silva S L, Alzueta J, Salas G, 2000. The socioeconomic consequences of the A.D. 1600 eruption of Huaynaputina, southern Peru. In: McCoy F W, Heiken G (eds), Volcanic Hazards and Disasters in Human Antiquity, Geol Soc Am Spec Pap, 345: 15-24. de Silva S L, Francis P W, 1990. Potentially active volcanoes of Peru - observations using Landsat Thematic Mapper and Space Shuttle imagery. Bull Volcanol, 52: 286-301. de Silva S L, Zielinski G A, 1998. Global influence of the AD 1600 eruption of Huaynaputina, Peru. Nature, 393: 455-458. Dietterich H, de Silva S, 2010. Sulfur yield of the 1600 eruption of Huaynaputina, Peru: Contributions from magmatic, fluid-phase, and hydrothermal sulfur . J. Volcanol. Geotherm. Res., 197: 303-312. Gonzalez-Ferran O, 1990. Huaynaputina volcano: the biggest historical dacitic eruption in the central Andes of South America, on February 19, 1600. IAVCEI 1990 Internatl Volc Cong, Mainz, Abs, (unpaginated). Gonzalez-Ferran O, 1995. Volcanes de Chile. Santiago: Instituto Geografico Militar, 635 p. Hantke G, Parodi I, 1966. Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. Catalog of Active Volcanoes of the World and Solfatara Fields, Rome: IAVCEI, 19: 1-73. Lavallee Y, de Silva S L, Salas G, Byrnes J M, 2006. Explosive volcanism (VEI 6) without caldera formation: insight from Huaynaputina volcano, southern Peru. Bull Volcanol, 68: 333-348. Lavallee Y, de Silva S L, Salas G, Byrnes J M, 2009. Structural control on volcanism at the Ubinas, Huaynaputina, and Ticscani Volcanic Group (UHTVG), southern Peru. J. Volcanol. Geotherm. Res., 186: 253-264. Thouret J-C, Davila J, Eissen J-P, 1999. Largest explosive eruption in historical time in the Andes at Huaynaputina volcano, A.D. 1600, southern Peru. Geology, 27: 435-438. Thouret J-C, Juvigne E, Gourgaud A, Boivin P, Davila J, 2002. Reconstruction of the AD 1600 Huaynaputina eruption based on the correlation of geologic evidence with early Spanish chronicles. J. Volcanol. Geotherm. Res., 115: 529-570.

Eruptive History

There is data available for 2 confirmed Holocene eruptive periods.

This compilation of synonyms and subsidiary features may not be comprehensive. Features are organized into four major categories: Cones, Craters, Domes, and Thermal Features. Synonyms of features appear indented below the primary name. In some cases additional feature type, elevation, or location details are provided.

Synonyms
Omate | Quinistaquillas | Chiquiomate | Chequepuquina | Guayta | Omato
Domes
Feature Name	Feature Type	Elevation	Latitude	Longitude
Chilcas, Cerro las	Dome	4450 m	16° 49' 0.00" S	70° 51' 0.00" W
Volcán, Cerro el	Dome		16° 38' 50.00" S	70° 50' 36.00" W

Photo Gallery

Huaynaputina is a relatively inconspicuous volcano that was the source of one of the largest historical eruptions of the central Andes in 1600 CE. The volcano has no prominent topographic expression. This view is from the east into a 2.5-km-wide complex caldera that is breached widely to the east. Three ash cones, one of which can be seen in the shadow at the right-center, are located on the floor of the caldera. Light-colored ash deposits from the 1600 eruption can be seen mantling the caldera rim.

Photo by Oscar González-Ferrán (University of Chile).

Smithsonian Sample Collections Database

There are no samples for Huaynaputina in the Smithsonian's NMNH Department of Mineral Sciences Rock and Ore collection.

External Sites

Copernicus Browser	The Copernicus Browser replaced the Sentinel Hub Playground browser in 2023, to provide access to Earth observation archives from the Copernicus Data Space Ecosystem, the main distribution platform for data from the EU Copernicus missions.
MIROVA	Middle InfraRed Observation of Volcanic Activity (MIROVA) is a near real time volcanic hot-spot detection system based on the analysis of MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) data. In particular, MIROVA uses the Middle InfraRed Radiation (MIR), measured over target volcanoes, in order to detect, locate and measure the heat radiation sourced from volcanic activity.
MODVOLC Thermal Alerts	Using infrared satellite Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data, scientists at the Hawai'i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology, University of Hawai'i, developed an automated system called MODVOLC to map thermal hot-spots in near real time. For each MODIS image, the algorithm automatically scans each 1 km pixel within it to check for high-temperature hot-spots. When one is found the date, time, location, and intensity are recorded. MODIS looks at every square km of the Earth every 48 hours, once during the day and once during the night, and the presence of two MODIS sensors in space allows at least four hot-spot observations every two days. Each day updated global maps are compiled to display the locations of all hot spots detected in the previous 24 hours. There is a drop-down list with volcano names which allow users to 'zoom-in' and examine the distribution of hot-spots at a variety of spatial scales.
WOVOdat    Single Volcano View    Temporal Evolution of Unrest    Side by Side Volcanoes	WOVOdat is a database of volcanic unrest; instrumentally and visually recorded changes in seismicity, ground deformation, gas emission, and other parameters from their normal baselines. It is sponsored by the World Organization of Volcano Observatories (WOVO) and presently hosted at the Earth Observatory of Singapore. GVMID Data on Volcano Monitoring Infrastructure The Global Volcano Monitoring Infrastructure Database GVMID, is aimed at documenting and improving capabilities of volcano monitoring from the ground and space. GVMID should provide a snapshot and baseline view of the techniques and instrumentation that are in place at various volcanoes, which can be use by volcano observatories as reference to setup new monitoring system or improving networks at a specific volcano. These data will allow identification of what monitoring gaps exist, which can be then targeted by remote sensing infrastructure and future instrument deployments.
Volcanic Hazard Maps	The IAVCEI Commission on Volcanic Hazards and Risk has a Volcanic Hazard Maps database designed to serve as a resource for hazard mappers (or other interested parties) to explore how common issues in hazard map development have been addressed at different volcanoes, in different countries, for different hazards, and for different intended audiences. In addition to the comprehensive, searchable Volcanic Hazard Maps Database, this website contains information about diversity of volcanic hazard maps, illustrated using examples from the database. This site is for educational purposes related to volcanic hazard maps. Hazard maps found on this website should not be used for emergency purposes. For the most recent, official hazard map for a particular volcano, please seek out the proper institutional authorities on the matter.
IRIS seismic stations/networks	Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS) Data Services map showing the location of seismic stations from all available networks (permanent or temporary) within a radius of 0.18° (about 20 km at mid-latitudes) from the given location of Huaynaputina. Users can customize a variety of filters and options in the left panel. Note that if there are no stations are known the map will default to show the entire world with a "No data matched request" error notice.
UNAVCO GPS/GNSS stations	Geodetic Data Services map from UNAVCO showing the location of GPS/GNSS stations from all available networks (permanent or temporary) within a radius of 20 km from the given location of Huaynaputina. Users can customize the data search based on station or network names, location, and time window. Requires Adobe Flash Player.
DECADE Data	The DECADE portal, still in the developmental stage, serves as an example of the proposed interoperability between The Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanism Program, the Mapping Gas Emissions (MaGa) Database, and the EarthChem Geochemical Portal. The Deep Earth Carbon Degassing (DECADE) initiative seeks to use new and established technologies to determine accurate global fluxes of volcanic CO2 to the atmosphere, but installing CO2 monitoring networks on 20 of the world's 150 most actively degassing volcanoes. The group uses related laboratory-based studies (direct gas sampling and analysis, melt inclusions) to provide new data for direct degassing of deep earth carbon to the atmosphere.
Large Eruptions of Huaynaputina	Information about large Quaternary eruptions (VEI >= 4) is cataloged in the Large Magnitude Explosive Volcanic Eruptions (LaMEVE) database of the Volcano Global Risk Identification and Analysis Project (VOGRIPA).
EarthChem	EarthChem develops and maintains databases, software, and services that support the preservation, discovery, access and analysis of geochemical data, and facilitate their integration with the broad array of other available earth science parameters. EarthChem is operated by a joint team of disciplinary scientists, data scientists, data managers and information technology developers who are part of the NSF-funded data facility Integrated Earth Data Applications (IEDA). IEDA is a collaborative effort of EarthChem and the Marine Geoscience Data System (MGDS).