Arequipa, Peru’s second economic center hosting c. 1,110,000 inhabitants, is the largest South American city exposed to a large variety of natural hazards. At least 200,000 live in areas likely to be affected by hazards from El Misti volcano, located 17 km to the NE. A multidisciplinary project aims to address the impacts of tephra fall and frequent mass flows on the vulnerable building stock and roofs along two ravines that cross the city, enabling decision-makers to undertake retrofitting projects and improve urban risk planning. Two recent eruptions, that is, the 1440–1470 CE Vulcanian event and c. 2070 years BP Plinian eruption, were chosen as references for probable scenarios of potential tephra fall impacts from El Misti on the building roofs. Tephra fall impacts on the city depend on the eruptive style, column height, and patterns of wind directions and velocities over south P...