Eruption of Huaynaputina

Date: February 19, 1600 • Location: Provincia de General Sánchez Cerro, Peru

Huaynaputina, a stratovolcano in present-day Peru, produced the largest recorded volcanic explosion in South America.

Huaynaputina is a volcano in a volcanic high plateau in southern Peru. Lying in the Central Volcanic Zone of the Andes, it was formed by the subduction of the oceanic Nazca Plate under the continental South American Plate. Huaynaputina is a large volcanic crater, which lacks an identifiable mountain profile, with an outer stratovolcano and three younger volcanic vents within an amphitheatre-shaped structure that is either a former caldera or a remnant of glacial erosion. The volcano has erupted dacitic magma.