Ubinas

Ubinas is an active stratovolcano in the Moquegua Region of southern Peru, approximately east of the city of Arequipa. Part of the Central Volcanic Zone of the Andes, it rises above sea level. The volcano's summit is cut by a and caldera, which itself contains a smaller crater. Below the summit, Ubinas has the shape of an upwards-steepening cone with a prominent notch on the southern side. The gently sloping lower part of the volcano is also known as Ubinas I and the steeper upper part as Ubinas II; they represent different stages in the volcano's geological history. The most active volcano in Peru, Ubinas has a history of small to moderate explosive eruptions as well as a few larger eruptions, such as in 1667, along with persistent degassing and ash emissions. Activity at the volcano began in the Pleistocene epoch, and led to the growth of the current mountain in two phases. Among the recent eruptions was the 2006–2007 event, which produced eruption columns and led to ash fall in the region, resulting in health issues and evacuations. During the most recent activity, from 2013 to 2017, a lava flow formed inside the crater, and further ash falls led to renewed evacuations of surrounding towns. Ubinas is monitored by the Peruvian geological service INGEMMET, which has published a volcano hazard map for Ubinas and regular volcanic activity reports. The historian and geographer Mariano Felipe Paz Soldán relates the name Ubinas to two terms in two different languages. In the indigenous language Quechua, uina means "to stuff" or "to fill", and uiña is translated as "to grow" or "to increase". In Aymara, hupi means "weep" or "murmur"; hupina is the genitive of hupi. Local inhabitants believed that Ubinas was infested by demons and the souls of people who had fallen from God. The volcano is also known as Uvillas or Uvinas. Ubinas lies in the Ubinas District of the General Sánchez Cerro Province, Moquegua Region of Peru, east of Arequipa in the Peruvian Western Cordillera. Like other Peruvian volcanoes, Ubinas belongs to the Central Volcanic Zone of the Andes.