Ecuador
ECU · 2024 energy mix · renewables 25.2% · fossil fuels 74.6%
Threat reading 42 of 100, classified HIGH THREAT, HOLDING. 3 events recorded here in the last seven days, 3 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
| Oil | 71.8% |
|---|---|
| Hydro | 24.3% |
| Gas | 2.8% |
| Other renewables | 0.7% |
| Wind | 0.2% |
In 2024, renewables accounted for 25.2% and fossil fuels for 74.6%. On electricity traded with its neighbours, Ecuador 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 72 significant earthquakes, 7 tsunamis and 24 significant eruptions in or just off Ecuador since 1280.
The deadliest was the 16 August 1868 magnitude 7.7 earthquake (Ecuador: Guayaquil, Ibarra; Colombia: San Pablo), which killed 70,000 people.
The strongest earthquake on record here was magnitude 8.8, on 31 January 1906 (Ecuador: off Coast).
The most recent entry is the 25 April 2025 magnitude 6.3 earthquake (Ecuador: Esmeraldas).
Across the entries that record a death toll, 140,984 people died.
| Date | What | Where | Toll |
|---|---|---|---|
| 16 August 1868 | magnitude 7.7 earthquake | Ecuador: Guayaquil, Ibarra; Colombia: San Pablo | 70,000 dead, damage over $25 million |
| 4 February 1797 | magnitude 8.3 earthquake | Ecuador: Riobamba, Quito, Cuzco; Peru; Colombia | 40,000 dead, damage over $25 million |
| 20 June 1698 | magnitude 7.7 earthquake | Ecuador: Tungurahua, Cotopaxi, Chimborazo | 6,500 dead, damage $5 to 25 million |
| 5 August 1949 | magnitude 6.5 earthquake | Ecuador: Tungurahua | 6,000 dead, $8 million damage |
| 6 March 1987 | magnitude 7.2 earthquake | Ecuador: Napo Province, Quito, Tulcan | 5,000 dead, $1,500 million damage |
| 1640 | VEI 3 eruption | Tungurahua, Ecuador | 5,000 dead |
| February 1640 | earthquake | Ecuador | 5,000 dead, damage $5 to 25 million |
| 31 January 1906 | magnitude 8.8 earthquake | Ecuador: off Coast | 1,000 dead, damage $5 to 25 million |
| 22 February 1757 | magnitude 7.0 earthquake | Ecuador: Cotopaxi, Tungurahua, Latacunga | 1,000 dead, damage $5 to 25 million |
| 31 January 1906 | tsunami (waves to 5 m) | off Coast | 1,000 dead, damage $5 to 25 million |
| 16 April 2016 | magnitude 7.8 earthquake | Ecuador: near West Coast: Manabi, Esmeraldas | 663 dead, 6,998 homes destroyed, $3,300 million damage |
| 16 April 2016 | tsunami (waves to 0.6 m) | off Coast | 663 dead, 6,998 homes destroyed, $3,300 million damage |
| 25 June 1877 | VEI 4 eruption | Cotopaxi, Ecuador | 340 dead |
| 14 May 1942 | magnitude 7.9 earthquake | Ecuador: Guayaquil | 200 dead, $3 million damage |
| 19 January 1958 | tsunami | Colombia-ecuador | 115 dead, damage $1 to 5 million |
| 3 March 1924 | magnitude 6.9 earthquake | Ecuador | 40 dead, damage under $1 million |
| 28 March 1996 | magnitude 5.9 earthquake | Ecuador: Cotopaxi, Pastaza, Tungurahua, Ambato | 27 dead, $7 million damage |
| 18 March 2023 | magnitude 6.8 earthquake | Ecuador: Azuay, El Oro, Guayas; Peru: Tumbes | 15 dead, 291 homes destroyed, damage $5 to 25 million |
| 13 October 2000 | tsunami (waves to 125 m) | Altar Volcano | 13 dead, 10 homes destroyed, damage $1 to 5 million |
| 13 October 2000 | eruption | Altar, Ecuador | 13 dead, 10 homes destroyed, damage $1 to 5 million |
| 30 July 1960 | earthquake | Ecuador | 11 dead, damage under $1 million |
| 9 April 1976 | magnitude 6.7 earthquake | Ecuador: Esmeraldos | 10 dead, $4 million damage |
| 18 August 1980 | magnitude 5.6 earthquake | Ecuador: W, Guayaquil | 8 dead, $5 million damage |
| 17 August 2006 | VEI 3 eruption | Tungurahua, Ecuador | 6 dead, damage $5 to 25 million |
| 11 August 1990 | magnitude 4.4 earthquake | Ecuador: Pamasqui, Quito | 4 dead, damage $5 to 25 million |
These are the 25 deadliest and largest of 103 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 Ecuador:
- 7 November 2026: M 3.3 - NEAR COAST OF ECUADOR
- 7 November 2026: Volcanic ash SIGMET: Reventador (Guayaquil)
- 7 November 2026: M 3.8 - NEAR COAST OF ECUADOR
What the threat reading is made of
| Conflict | 36 |
|---|---|
| Unrest | 0 |
| Security | 15 |
| Spillover from neighbours | 10 |
| Natural hazard | 45 |
| Resilience | 59 |
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.
Other countries tracked
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.