Huayna-Putina (4,800m/15,748ft) is a stratovolcano that is part of the Central Volcanic Upland Zone, a segment of the Andes running through in Southern Peru and Chile. The Huayna-Putina resides in the Moquegua Region, 80 kms /50mi South East of Arequipa, within a horseshoe-shaped crater 2.5 kms /2mi in with, and includes three 100-metre /328ft deep cones which formed from the ash fallout of the 1600 eruption.
Before the European settlement in South America, not much is really known of the region's disasters. According to the Andean religious beliefs, in both Aymara and Incas mythologies, ritual sacrifices were often made to the volcano to avoid the anger of Supay, god of death. Supay was both the god of death and the ruler of the Incan Underworld (Uku Pacha), as well as a race of demons. In every mine a ritual was performed by the miners to Supay to avoid volcanic eruptions or radical changes in the biosphere of the region due to over mining the resources that belonged to the underworld. During the rituals miners begged the god not to harm them.
The god Supay acquired symbolic effect, becoming a main character of the "Bolivian Diabladas" (in the Carnaval of Oruro), Peru and other Andean countries. In the Northern Region of Argentina, the underworld where Supay rules, is called "Salamanca." In some areas of Peru, the Quechua people continue the tradition of the Supay Dance named "Flame Virgin"(Mamacha Candicha), and is a festival with dancing lasting up to two weeks.
Another entity known as "Saqra"which is a Quechua word for malignant, pernicious, bad, bad tempered, wicked, restless devil, and synonym of Supay in a less degree just playing mischiefs among individuals is represented with animal figures in the same traditional dances offered to the god of death.
A few days before the eruption, someone reported booming noise from the volcano and fog-like gas being emitted from its crater. By February 15, the activity had noticeably increased, as earthquakes began to occur. By February 18, seismic activity occurred as frequently as three or four times every 15 minutes, some tremors powerful enough to wake sleepers up.
At 5pm, on February 19, the volcano erupted violently, sending volcanic ashes into the atmosphere. Observers described the event as "a big explosion with cannonball-like explosions" that had the appearance of an enormous fire. River-like flows flowed down the mountain; the flows on the Southern side mixed with water from the Tambo River creating a type of mud-flow running tens of meters per second (22mph or more), and 140m/460ft deep.
The Tambo River on the eastern slopes of the Andes refers to a short section of about 159 kms (99mi) long, starting at the confluence of the Ene and Perene Rivers and from here flowing easterly for about 70kms/43mi and then turning North. When merging with the Urubamba it becomes the Ucayali River.
The Tambo is part of the headwaters of the Amazon River whose origin is the Apurimac River at Nevado Mismi.
The explosion produced about 30 cubic kilometers (7.2 cu mi) of flows traveling 13 kms /8.1mi to the East and SouthEast, and the mud-flows destroyed several villages and reached the coast of the Pacific Ocean, a distance of 120kms/75mi.
One hour after the eruption, ash began to fall from the sky, and within 24 hours, the major cities of Arequipa (70kms/43mi to the West) and Moquegua were covered with 25 centimetres (10in) of ash. The accompanying earthquakes caused substantial damage to both cities.
Ash-fall was reported 250-500 kms (160-310mi) away, throughout Southern Peru and in what is now Northern Chile and Western Bolivia.
The volcano killed a great number of people, villages were wiped out. The atmospheric spike of acid as a result of the eruption was higher than that of Krakatoa. Regional agriculture economies took 150 years to recover fully.
The explosion had effects on climate around the Northern Hemisphere, where 1601 was the coldest year in 6 centuries, leading to a famine in Russia.
In Estonia, Switzerland and Latvia, there were bitterly cold winters in 1600-1602; in 1601 in France, the wine harvest came late; additionally, production of wine collapsed in Germany and colonial Peru.
In Japan, Lake Suwa had one of its earliest freezings in 500 years. In China, peach trees bloomed late.
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