Peru's active volcanoes Ubinas, Sabancaya and El Misti are also part of the Central Volcanic Zone.

Yucamane is constructed mainly by lava flows with subordinate pyroclastic deposits, and it has a well preserved summit crater with fumarolic activity.

[10] A number of mostly agricultural towns exist on its slopes, such as Aricota, Cairani, Camilaca, Cucachi, Huanuara, Morjani, Pallata, Susapaya, Tarata, Ticaco, Totora and Yucamane Pampa, as well as irrigation infrastructure and major roads.

[14] The Andes are the longest mountain range on Earth, extending 9,000 kilometres (5,600 mi) from the Tierra del Fuego archipelago in southernmost South America to Venezuela in the north.

[15] More than 2,000 volcanoes exist in the Andes, mainly in the countries of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.

[18] The largest historical eruption in Peru occurred in 1600 at Huaynaputina and caused 1,500 fatalities and severe economic damage.

[6] On the southeastern flank a secondary volcanic centre,[13] 4,200-metre (13,800 ft) high[4] Mal Paso, can be found.

The older volcanoes show evidence of sector collapses[38] and have been glaciated,[39] which has left moraines at elevations of about 4,300 metres (14,100 ft)[40] and glacial deposits with a volume of about 0.5–1 cubic kilometre (0.12–0.24 cu mi).

[22] This volcanic complex is part of the Cordillera del Barroso mountain chain in southern Peru.

[13] The slopes of the volcano drain westward, eastward and southward towards[13] the Calientes and Callazas rivers in the east and west of Yucamane, respectively.

[18] The subducting slab releases fluids which induce the formation of melts which are then erupted on the surface as volcanism.

[27] This basement in turn consists of two major tectonic blocks, the southern Arequipa terrane and the northern Paracas massif; both are formed by igneous and metamorphic rocks such as gneiss and are covered by Mesozoic sedimentary and Cenozoic volcanic rocks.

Its eruption probably reached a volcanic explosivity index of 6 and may have produced a now-buried caldera[56]),[67] 126,000 ± 3,000, 95,600 ± 16,700, 133,400 ± 13,500, 102,000 ± 6,000 and 3,000 ± 3,000 years ago.

[10] The activity of Calientes and Yucamane overlapped in time,[23] and both have generated lava flows which lie above moraines.

[1] In total, about 4-5 explosive eruptions occurred in post-glacial time and left tephra deposits over the southern and southeastern flanks of the edifice.

[a][77][78] The 1787 and 1902 events involved the emission of ash;[11] an 1874 edition of the Arequipa-based El Deber newspaper states that Yucamane was "bursting" and "steaming" in 1787.

[1][80] Overall, historical records are fragmentary and scarce,[81] and the Global Volcanism Program recognizes the 1,320 BCE eruption as the most recent event.

[91] Hazards from pyroclastic flows extend farther, down to the Laguna Aricota lake southwest of the volcano.

[89] Hazards from lava flows derive from their ability to bury land and to ignite flammable materials, as well as the possible creation of lava dams on rivers and outburst floods when they break, while the high speed and temperatures of pyroclastic flows threatens people with asphyxiation, burial and burns.

[92] Ash fall from an eruption could extend southeastward to the border with Chile and affect the towns of Candarave, Ilabaya, Pachia, Palca and Tarata.