Chilean Central Valley
Villarica stands just east of the Chilean Central Valley as the westernmost of an alignment of three large stratovolcanoes. The alignment is attributed to the existence of an old fracture in the crust, the North West-South East trending Mocha-Villarrica Fault Zone, the other volcanoes in the chain, Quetrupillán and Lanín, are far less active. The alignment is unusual as it crosses the N-S running Liquiñe-Ofqui Fault, along which several active volcanoes are aligned.