On the morning of February 19th, 1600, citizens of Lima were awoken to the sound of loud explosions
and the shaking of the ground.
At first this was incorrectly attributed to artillery fire, causing a battalion of troops
to be sent off looking for the attackers.
However, as soon as ash started falling en mass, it became clear that something much
worse was going on.
Not long after, the sky turned pitch black, and visibility dropped to near zero.
What had just begun was the largest volcanic eruption within all of South America in the
last 2,000 years.
This eruption originated from a tall but little known volcano known as Huaynaputina, whose
name literally translates to "new fire throwing volcano".
Over the course of the deadly eruption, more than 1,500 people adjacent to the volcano
lost their lives.
It devastated the area, and had more profound climate implications.
As it caused famines around the globe, a period of cooler than normal temperatures known as
"the little ice age" began.
This video will discuss this remote volcano, its large eruption, and what future hazards
it poses.
The Huaynaputina volcano is located in southeastern Peru near the borders of both Bolivia and
Chile.
Specifically, it is located 76 kilometers east southeast of the city of Arequipa.
As we zoom in on this volcano, you might notice something strange.
If not for the label I provided, you wouldn't know that this ridge even contains a volcano.
Also, despite creating one of the largest recent eruptions on the planet, there isn't
a caldera.
For comparison, the Quilotoa volcano in Ecuador produced a similarly large eruption in 1280,
which created the massive caldera you see today.
In fact, every large volcanic eruption I have covered in my video series so far has contained
a caldera.
So, why is Huaynaputina so different?
The answer is that the magma which fed this volcano originated in an unusually deep magma
chamber, at a depth of 20 kilometers or 12 miles.
Thus, when this magma chamber was drained, the thick crust above it took the full force
of additional strain, preventing a caldera collapse.
Altogether, this young volcano contains several lava domes, a large collapse scar, and several
young explosion craters.
The exact age of when this volcano began forming is unknown, but the entire complex is likely
less than 40,000 years old.
Its initial series of eruptions produced large quantities of dacite which erupted as a thick
and viscous lava flow.
Over time, this formed large lava domes, some of which were individually more than 300 meters
in height.
During growth of these lava domes, their edges occasionally partially collapsed, creating
pyroclastic flows.
By 10,000 years ago, 4 lava domes had been constructed.
The fifth lava dome, shown on screen, formed in at least three separate eruptions between
10,000 and 5,000 years ago.
After these eruptions, Huaynaputina became dormant for an extended period of time.
Then, in December of 1599, a series of earthquakes began as a massive volume of magma traveled
up through the volcano.
This magma continued to build in pressure until February 19th, 1600, when a massive
eruption began.
As a loud explosion rocked across the landscape, a 2 kilometer wide and 400 meter deep crater
was created instantaneously.
This caused a large section of overlying rock to begin a landslide, collapsing to the east.
From this collapse emerged a several hundred meter tall pyroclastic flow, which traveled
throughout the surrounding valleys for up to 15 kilometers.
As onlookers looked on in horror, a massive mushroom cloud rose into the atmosphere.
As it reached 46 kilometers in height, thick amounts of ash fell across a vast area, including
in Lima.
This ash piled up quickly, causing roofs to collapse adjacent to the volcano, and thus
burying the ground in a meter of rock within a 30 kilometer radius.
As the pyroclastic flow boiled the river water, it created a large lahar.
This several hundred meter high lahar soon traveled downhill, causing destruction along
the way before reaching the Pacific Ocean.
Three additional large explosions soon occurred, creating overlapping ash cones.
Intermittent less energetic activity continued until March 6th when the eruption ended.
This eruption had ejected 30 cubic kilometers of molten rock, rating on the volcanic explosivity
index as a 6.
Although the volcano has not erupted since, it will erupt again.
Its next eruption will likely create another lava dome, meaning that areas within 10 kilometers
of it would need to be evacuated due to the risk of pyroclastic flows.
I hope that you enjoyed this video!
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