Chile

CHL · 2024 energy mix · renewables 32.3% · fossil fuels 67.7%

Threat reading 48 of 100, classified HIGH THREAT, HOLDING. 159 events recorded here in the last seven days, 159 in the last thirty.

That number is computed from live feeds and moves. The live monitor is where to read it as of right now.

Where its energy comes from

Oil46.7%
Gas13.9%
Hydro12.7%
Solar9.9%
Coal7.1%
Wind5.0%
Other renewables4.7%

In 2024, renewables accounted for 32.3% and fossil fuels for 67.7%. On electricity traded with its neighbours, Chile is close to balanced on electricity trade.

Sources under one per cent of the mix are left out of the table rather than listed as a row of zeroes. Percentages are shares of a country's primary energy, not of the power it generates.

Recorded history

NOAA's hazard records hold 199 significant earthquakes, 64 tsunamis and 19 significant eruptions in or just off Chile since 1520.

The deadliest was the 25 January 1939 magnitude 8.3 earthquake (Chile: Chillan), which killed 30,000 people.

The strongest earthquake on record here was magnitude 9.5, on 22 May 1960 (Chile: Puerto Montt, Valdivia).

The most recent entry is the 2 May 2025 magnitude 7.4 earthquake (Chile: Drake Passage).

Across the entries that record a death toll, 70,718 people died.

DateWhatWhereToll
25 January 1939magnitude 8.3 earthquakeChile: Chillan30,000 dead, $920 million damage
13 August 1868tsunami (waves to 18 m)Northern Chile25,000 dead, $300 million damage
13 August 1868magnitude 8.5 earthquakeChile: Arica25,000 dead, $300 million damage
17 August 1906magnitude 8.2 earthquakeChile: South Central4,000 dead, $100 million damage
17 August 1906tsunami (waves to 3.5 m)Central Chile4,000 dead, $100 million damage
10 May 1877tsunami (waves to 18 m)Northern Chile2,385 dead, damage $5 to 25 million
10 May 1877magnitude 8.3 earthquakeChile: off North Coast2,385 dead, $2 million damage
22 May 1960tsunami (waves to 25 m)Southern Chile2,226 dead, 58,622 homes destroyed, $1,000 million damage
22 May 1960magnitude 9.5 earthquakeChile: Puerto Montt, Valdivia2,226 dead, 58,622 homes destroyed, $1,000 million damage
8 February 1570magnitude 8.3 earthquakeChile: Old Concepcion2,000 dead, damage $5 to 25 million
8 February 1570tsunamiCentral Chile2,000 dead, damage $5 to 25 million
16 December 1575magnitude 8.5 earthquakeChile: Valdivia1,321 dead, damage $5 to 25 million
16 December 1575tsunamiSouthern Chile1,321 dead, damage $5 to 25 million
14 May 1647magnitude 8.5 earthquakeChile: Santiago1,000 dead, 300 homes destroyed, damage over $25 million
11 November 1922magnitude 8.5 earthquakeChile: Atacama700 dead, damage $5 to 25 million
11 November 1922tsunami (waves to 5.5 m)Northern Chile700 dead, damage $5 to 25 million
27 February 2010tsunami (waves to 29 m)Central Chile558 dead, $30,000 million damage
27 February 2010magnitude 8.8 earthquakeChile: Maule, Concepcion, Talcahuano558 dead, $30,000 million damage
28 March 1965magnitude 7.3 earthquakeChile: Central400 dead, $125 million damage
1 December 1928magnitude 7.6 earthquakeChile: Talca, Chillan, Santiago, San Fernando279 dead, damage $5 to 25 million
1 December 1928tsunami (waves to 1.5 m)Central Chile279 dead, damage $5 to 25 million
3 March 1985magnitude 8.0 earthquakeChile: Central Coast, San Antonio, Valparaiso180 dead, $1,500 million damage
3 March 1985tsunami (waves to 3.5 m)Central Chile180 dead, $1,500 million damage
9 July 1971magnitude 7.8 earthquakeChile: Central83 dead, $236 million damage
9 July 1971tsunami (waves to 0.6 m)Central Chile83 dead, $236 million damage

These are the 25 deadliest and largest of 282 entries. A dash means NOAA recorded no number, not that nobody died. Older entries are fewer because fewer were written down, not because less happened.

Recorded history: NOAA NCEI hazard databases, public domain, retrieved 2026-10-22.

In the last 30 days

The most recent events our feeds placed in Chile:

What the threat reading is made of

Conflict1
Unrest0
Security0
Spillover from neighbours0
Natural hazard79
Resilience79

Each is 0 to 100. Resilience runs the other way to the rest: a high number is a country better able to absorb a shock, not a country in more trouble.

Large caldera systems here

Other countries tracked

All countries with a page.

Where the data comes from

Energy mix, 2024: Our World in Data, energy dataset (https://github.com/owid/energy-data), compiled by Pablo Rosado, Hannah Ritchie, Edouard Mathieu and Max Roser from the Energy Institute Statistical Review of World Energy, the U.S. Energy Information Administration, Ember and The Shift Dataportal. Licence: Our World in Data's own compilation is CC BY 4.0. The underlying figures stay under their original terms: Energy Institute Statistical Review of World Energy, U.S. EIA, Ember and The Shift Dataportal. The percentages shown here and the wording are ours. Threat reading: computed by Rift Web from the feeds listed on the sources page.