Putana Volcano

Updated: May 21, 2024 10:14 GMT - refresh

stratovolcano 5890 m / 19,324 ft
Northern Chile, Bolivia and Argentina (South America), -22.55°S / -67.85°W
Current status: normal or dormant (1 out of 5)

Volcán Putana (also known as Jorgencal or Machuca) is a stratovolcano in northern Chile on the border with Bolivia. Strong fumarolic activity is present at the summit crater and is visible from far distance, and the volcano has large sulfur deposits.
The volcano, whose name literally means "whore" has (probably) erupted twice in historic times. Its name might allure to a major destructive eruption reported in the 19th century, although some recent research suggests that there actually were eruptions at all in historic times at Putana volcano.

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News/Updates | Earthquakes

Typical eruption style: effusive, lava domes
Putana volcano eruptions: 1972(?), 1810 ± 10 years (?)

Latest nearby earthquakes

Time	Mag. / Depth	Distance / Location
May 19, 07:29 pm (Santiago)	3.1 191 km	21 km (13 mi) to the W	Chile: 44 km al N de San Pedro de Atacama I FELT IT	Info
Saturday, May 18, 2024 GMT (1 quake)
May 18, 01:16 am (La Paz)	2.5 197 km	24 km (15 mi) to the N	104 km east of Calama, El Loa, Antofagasta, Chile	Info
Tuesday, May 7, 2024 GMT (1 quake)
May 7, 06:43 pm (Santiago)	2.5 184 km	14 km (8.5 mi) to the NW	Chile: 58 km al NE de San Pedro de Atacama	Info

View recent quakes

Background

Putana volcano is part of a large, roughly N-S-trending volcanic complex that covers an area of 600 sq km.
The main edifice consists mainly of dacitic lava domes and flows mantling an older pre-Holocene volcano. The youngest basaltic andesite lava flows are viscous and rarely extend more than 3 km.
(Source: Smithsonian / GVP volcano information)