Huaynaputina
Huaynaputina is a stratovolcano located in a volcanic upland in southern Peru. The volcano does not have an identifiable mountain profile, but instead has the form of a large volcanic crater. On February 19, 1600, it exploded catastrophically (Volcanic Explosivity Index or VEI 6), in the largest volcanic explosion in South America in historic times. The eruption continued with a series of events into March. An account of the event was included in Fray Antonio Vazquez de Espinosa's, Compendio y Descripcion de las Indias which was translated into English, as Compendium and description of the West Indies, in 1942.
When Huaynaputina exploded, pyroclastic flows traveled 13 km to the east and southeast, and lahars— volcanic mudflows— destroyed several villages and reached the coast of the Pacific Ocean, a distance of 120 km. The eruption began with a Plinian plume that extended into the stratosphere, and the ashfall and accompanying earthquakes caused substantial damage to the major cities of Arequipa (70 km to the west) and Moquegua.
Ashfall was reported 250–500 km away, throughout southern Peru, and in what is now northern Chile and western Bolivia. The ash layer now forms a useful stratigraphic marker layer throughout Peru. The explosion had effects on climate around the Northern Hemisphere. In Greenland the sulfuric acid spike was larger than that from Krakatau (1883). Regional agricultural economies took 150 years to fully recover.
References
J-C. Thouret, et al. "Reconstruction of the AD 1600 Huaynaputina eruption" (pdf file)
External links
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