Whether the ongoing unrest at Uturuncu is part of a benign process of pluton growth or the prelude of a new eruption or even a caldera-forming eruption is an open question; a large caldera-forming eruption could have catastrophic, globe-spanning consequences as demonstrated by the 1815 eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia and the 1600 eruption of Huaynaputina in Peru; this possibility has resulted in international media attention.