The social vulnerability indicators for Chile are spread over the themes of population, economy, infrastructure, education,and health. The dataset of Chile is composed of 68 indicators at level P3 of subnational geographic organization given in 344 subdivisions distributed into parishes known in Chile as comunas. The chart below (figure 1) explains the percentage of variables in the total dataset under each specific main theme.

Figure 1

Indicators are separated into groups (or sub-indices) that share the same dimension (e.g. population, economy, infrastructure, etc.). These individual indicators are aggregated into sub-indices, and the sub-indices are, in turn, aggregated to construct the final composite model. Table 1 shows the entire dataset variables for Chile divided in the respective themes and subthemes.

Table 1. Chile variables of social vulnerability

The entire 68 indicators were statistically analyzed. In addition to a harmonized dataset, a reduction of the socio-economic indicators into a smaller parsimonious set of variables that best represent social and economic vulnerability cluster analysis was performed. The multi-variable statistical analysis was utilized to provide a statistical basis for the choice of indicators.

A correlation analysis was performed on the above variables (table 1). Highly correlated variables (Spearman’s R>0.700) were eliminated from further consideration to avoid subjectively choosing one variable over another for inclusion in subsequent analyses. The correlation analysis is useful in reducing the data to a set of variables that are parsimonious and acceptable to represent the social vulnerability of the population in Chile.

Table 2. Chile final variable selection

The spatial distribution of the social vulnerability in Chile explains the socio-economic conditions of the population at subnational level in the country. The following figures provide the social vulnerability subcomponents at the subnational parishes in the country. The spatial of the sub-component population (figure 2A) shows high levels of social vulnerability in the parishes around Iquique in the north, and Concepcion, and Temuco in the mid part of the parishes below the metropolitan area of Santiago. Variables such as population density, age dependence, native indigenous population, and women head of household score high on social vulnerability at those parishes. Likewise, the education and health components (figure 2B-C) show high levels of social vulnerability at the aforementioned parishes, indicating that these parishes concentrate a great amount of population with no formal education and with limited access to healthcare and hence high rates of social vulnerability.

Figure 2. Chile components of social vulnerability

(A)	(B)	(C)
(D)	(F)

The integrated risk for Chile is obtained from combining the social vulnerability and the risk average annual losses indexes. High integrated risk can be understood as those subnational areas experiencing high seismicity, high physical earthquake risk, and high levels of social vulnerability. Chile’s social vulnerability index resulted in moderate to high levels of social vulnerability at the subnational parishes surrounding Iquique, Concepcion, and Temuco (Figure 3A). The integrated risk index marks the aforementioned subdivisions as high risk, but also parishes marking major urban areas like Santiago, Valparaíso, y Antofagasta are under high risk as they are located in the high seismic risk zones (Figure 3B). Major cities across chile play an important role as economic and population hubs, especially if located in high risk seismicity zones, and giving high levels of risk under the integrated risk spatial distribution (figure 3C) an earthquake would bring devastating impacts to the economy and the well being of the population and their livelihoods.

Figure 3. Chile integrated risk

(A)	(B)	(C)