The narrow valleys on western and southern flanks are a particular threat, as mudflows and pyroclastic flows can be channelled into the urban area and into important infrastructure, like hydropower plants.

Since then, the Peruvian INGEMMET has set up a volcano observatory in Arequipa, run public awareness campaigns on the dangers of renewed eruptions and published a hazard map.

The indigenous names are Putina[2][3] ("mountain that growls"[4]) and in Aymara "Anukara"[5] or Anuqara[6] ("dog"); they both refer to the dog-like appearance of the volcano when viewed from the Altiplano.

It is unclear whether the Inka were the first Altiplano polities to influence the region or whether previous cultures played a role,[11] but by the arrival of the Spanish the area was densely populated.

[49] Several Peruvian volcanoes have been active since the Spanish conquest: Andagua volcanic field, Huaynaputina, Sabancaya and Ubinas, and possibly Ticsani, Tutupaca and Yucamane.

[70] There are no obvious traces of a sector collapse on the volcano,[39] except on its western foot[69] and a narrow chute on the northwestern flank of Misti that reaches its summit.

[39] The perennial[72] Rio Chili rounds the northern and western sides of Misti,[39] where it has cut the 20-kilometre (12 mi) long and 150–2,600-metre (490–8,530 ft) deep[73] Charcani Gorge.

[39] The subduction is responsible for the volcanism of the CVZ,[47] as the downgoing slab releases fluids that chemically modify the overlying mantle, causing it to produce melts.

[81] Most Peruvian volcanoes have produced potassium-rich andesitic magmas, derived from the mantle and further modified by fractional crystallization and assimilation of material from the often thick crust.

[91] The faults were active during the Holocene, offsetting tephra deposits,[92] and may have provided a pathway for magma to ascend and form the volcanoes of Arequipa.

It consists of Proterozoic rocks of the Arequipa Terrane, which are more than a billion years old, Jurassic sediments of the Socosani Formation[94] and Yura Group, and the Cretaceous-Paleogene La Caldera batholith.

[101] Initially mantle-derived melts pool in a reservoir at the base of the crust, where they assimilate crustal material and undergo fractional crystallization.

[133] Between 36,000 and 20,000 years ago collapses of lava domes produced numerous block-and-ash flows of dacitic to andesitic composition, which reach thicknesses of several tens of metres on the southern side of Misti.

[153] Holocene activity filled the younger caldera with scoria and lava flows, forming the "Misti 4" edifice with the nested summit craters.

Tephra forms 5–6-metre (16–20 ft) thick deposits around the volcano, and pyroclastic surges reached distances of many kilometres more than 6,400 and 5,200 years ago.

[154] They extend for more than 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) on the southwestern flank of Misti,[154] but they also resulted in ash fall over the Pacific Ocean and Lake Titicaca.

[160] Tephra layers in the Sallalli and (in this case with less certainty) Mucurca peat bogs close to Sabancaya,[172] and (tentatively) for an ice core in the Antarctic Plateau in Antarctica, are attributed to this eruption.

[182] The eruption was severe enough that Mama Ana Huarque Coya,[183] the wife of the Inka emperor Pachacutec,[i] came to Chiguata,[185] where black ash had fallen,[186] to provide assistance.

[205] The city is constructed on mudflow and pyroclastic flow deposits of the volcano[206] and all the valleys that drain Misti pass directly or indirectly through Arequipa.

[229] As of 2021[update], the monitoring network on Misti includes seismometers, equipment that measures the composition and temperature of hot springs and fumaroles, and sensors for movements or deformations of the edifice.

[105] Ash fall would occur around the volcano, reaching 5 centimetres (2.0 in) in the urban area and shutting down the Arequipa Airport, landslides could damage the dams on the Rio Chili, and mudflows would descend the southern slopes.

Thicker ash falls (exceeding 10 centimetres (3.9 in)) could cause buildings to collapse, and pyroclastic flows down the steep slopes south of Misti would reach the suburbs of Arequipa and Chiguata.

[249] Elemental compositions and isotope ratios indicate that the fumarole deposits are derived from the leaching of volcanic rocks and the water from precipitation.

[250] The chemistry of the deposits changed between 1967 and 2018, with decreasing zinc and increasing lead concentrations, concomitant with a warming of the fumarolic system[251] that may be due to the arrival of new magma in the volcano during the 20th century.

[262] The activity has not been stable over time; after the 2001 southern Peru earthquake flow at the Charcani V spring and the temperature of the crater emissions increased noticeably.

[268] After a wet and cold start to the Holocene, the climate in the Western Cordillera may have been moist until 5,200–5,000 years ago, followed by a dry period that lasted until the 16th century AD when the Little Ice Age began.

[158] The region west of the Andes, including the terrain at the foot of Misti,[267] is mostly desert with cacti and dwarf shrubs as the principal vegetation forms.

[285] The Middle Horizon[286] Millo archeological site in the Rio Vitor valley was constructed in a manner that allowed a good view of Misti, which was probably the apu of this place.

[295] During episodes of increased activity, the inhabitants of Arequipa carried out religious ceremonies, including public penance and flagellations, to discurage the volcano.

[320] The climbers reported difficulties due to the loose ground, noxious gases[316] and altitude sickness,[313] and John Biggar cautioned that there is no source of potable water on the mountain.