Huaynaputina

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.

Huaynaputina has erupted several times during the Holocene, including on 19February 1600 – the largest recorded eruption ever witnessed in South America – which continued with a series of events into March. Witnessed by people in the city of Arequipa, it killed perhaps 1,000–1,500 people in the region, wiped out vegetation, buried the surrounding area with of volcanic rock, and damaged infrastructure and economic resources. The eruption had a significant impact on Earth's climate, causing a volcanic winter: temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere decreased; cold waves hit parts of Europe, Asia, and the Americas; and the climate disruption may have played a role in the onset of the Little Ice Age. Floods, famines, and social upheavals resulted, including a probable link with the Russian famine of 1601–1603 and Time of Troubles. This eruption has been computed to measure 6 on the Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI).