Eruption of Huaynaputina
- Date
- 19 February 1600
- Category
- Environment & climate
- Region
- Moquegua region, southern Peru (Andes), South America
- Era
- Early Modern
- Significance
On 19 February 1600, the Huaynaputina volcano in the Moquegua region of southern Peru erupted explosively, producing the largest volcanic eruption recorded in South American history and one of the most powerful worldwide in the past two millennia, rated VEI 6.
The Plinian eruption ejected roughly 11 cubic kilometres of tephra, burying nearby villages under ash and lahars and killing an estimated 1,000 to 1,500 people in the surrounding region. Vast quantities of sulphur dioxide injected into the stratosphere formed a sulfate aerosol veil that dimmed sunlight and triggered marked global cooling, making 1601 one of the coldest years in the Northern Hemisphere over the preceding six centuries. The resulting harvest failures have been linked to severe famines as far away as Russia, where the famine of 1601 to 1603 contributed to the upheaval of the Time of Troubles, and to cold-weather records in China, Korea, and Europe. Locally the ashfall devastated the Spanish colonial economy of Arequipa, destroying vineyards and farmland and prompting a long-term shift in regional agriculture.
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Empires active in 19 February 1600
- Ottoman Empire1299 CE – 1922 CE
- Solomonic dynasty1270 CE – 1974 CE
- Mughal Empire1526 CE – 1857 CE
- Ming Dynasty1368 CE – 1644 CE
- Portuguese Empire1415 CE – 1999 CE
- Spanish Empire1492 CE – 1976 CE
Related environment & climate events
- 1556 Shaanxi EarthquakeJanuary 23, 1556
- Deforestation and Ecological Transformation of Rapa Nui (Easter Island)c. 1600 CE
- The Little Ice Age and the General Crisis of the 17th century17th century (peak cooling c. 1600–1700)
- The Great Lisbon Earthquake, Tsunami, and Fire1 November 1755
- Laki Fissure Eruption and the Mist Hardships Famine8 June 1783 – 7 February 1784
- Great Bengal Famine of 17701769–1770
Further reading
The wider story
A New Green History of the World
The classic accessible account of how environment and climate have shaped human history.
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