The stratovolcano Huaynaputina, located about 50 miles from the city of Arequipa on the southern Peruvian Andes range, explodes beginning on Feb 19, 1600 in the most violent volcanic eruption in South American recorded history and one of the largest in world history over the past 2000 years.
It caused massive regional destruction and major social disruption and abrupt global cooling in the Northern Hemisphere in 1601. It is 4,850-meter-high (15,912 ft) volcanic complex consisting of a 2.5-km-wide caldera containing three younger ash cones. It is currently in a state of superficial calm but remains remains an active, dangerous volcano.
