Description of the attraction
A mountain peak of amazing beauty, sometimes snowy, can be seen near the city of Arequipa. This is the El Misti stratovolcano (5822 m), also known as Putin. On the upper level of the symmetrical conical volcano, there are two concentric craters. The maximum outer diameter of the crater is 930 meters, the maximum diameter of the inner crater is 550 meters.
Winds blowing between the El Misti volcano and the Cerro Takune mountain peak (4,715 m) contributed to the formation of impressive parabolic dunes, up to 20 km long on the leeward side.
The El Misti volcano has been showing periodic activity since the beginning of historical records of the arrival of Europeans in Latin America. The first record of a violent eruption of El Misti dates back to 1438. Other eruptions have also been recorded since the mid-15th century. The most recent activity reportedly took place from May to October 1948. In 1959, an increase in groundwater temperature was observed. The last activity was in 1985 - in the form of a powerful ejection of steam from six holes of the inner crater. Periodic fumarole activity is also often observed at the highest level of the volcano's craters.
The second largest city in Peru, Arequipa is located just 18 km (horizontal) and 2.5 km (vertical) from the summit of the volcano. In addition, the city is located along the El Guarangal gorge on the western slopes of the volcano. A factor such as the absence of permanent ice on the volcano reduces the risk of mudflows, but a significant danger to the city of Arequipa still remains, since it is built on ash and mudflows from the eruptions of the El Misti volcano more than 2000 years ago.
The Institute of Geophysics of Peru (IGP) in its report dated June 24, 2014 reported that the seismicity of the El Misti volcano has increased over the past 12 months. Two seismic earthquakes occurred during the last three months - May 19 and June 3, 2014.
The history of the eruptions of the El Misti volcano, as well as its close proximity to the second largest city in Peru, make it one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world.
