Huaynaputina lies at an elevation of about . It consists of an outer composite volcano, or stratovolcano, and three younger volcanic vents nested within an amphitheatre that is wide and deep. This horseshoe-shaped structure opens eastwards and is set in the older volcano at an elevation of . The amphitheatre lies at the margin of a rectangular high plateau that is covered by ash about thick, extending over an area of . The volcano has generally modest dimensions and rises less than above the surrounding terrain, but the products of the volcano's 1600 eruption cover much of the region especially west, north and south from the amphitheatre. These include pyroclastic flow dunes that crop out from underneath the tephra. Deposits from the 1600 eruption and previous events also crop out within the amphitheatre walls. Another southeastward-opening landslide scar lies just north of Huaynaputina.