What three additional locations are within range of Taapaca?
Most of the volcanoes in northern Chile are far from towns and inhabited areas and thus their activity does not create significant human hazards. Putre is constructed on pyroclastic deposits of the Taapaca, facing a threat from future eruptions. A highway (Chile Route 11 between La Paz and Arica) linking Bolivia with the Pacific Ocean is also in range on the southern flank, while the road to Visviri in Peru runs along the southwestern and western flanks. Additional areas within range of Taapaca are the towns of Socoroma and Zapahuira, as well as the Oruro Department in Bolivia. The danger is accentuated by the fact that Holocene activity has affected mainly the southwestern flank, where Putre is located. The average time between eruptions at Taapaca is about 450 years.Future activity at Taapaca could result in further sector collapses when magma is injected into the edifice and deforms it, to the point that the volcano becomes unstable. Likewise, if lava domes are extruded onto the volcano they could generate block and ash flows as well as both primary and secondary pyroclastic flows. Eruptions between April and November (when the volcano is covered by snow) might generate lahars, as could rainfall during the wet season between December and March; the latter type of lahar happens frequently on present-day Taapaca owing to the steep slopes of the volcano, although it usually results solely in road damage.The Chilean SERNAGEOMIN geological service monitors the volcano and shows a volcano hazard level for it. It also publishes a hazard map for Taapaca, which shows risk areas for lava bomb falls, pyroclastic flows and tephra fallout.
Socoroma Zapahuira Oruro Department