Cobquecura is a town and commune (Spanish

Spanish language

Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...

: comuna) in the Ñuble Province

Ñuble Province

Ñuble Province is one of four provinces of the Chilean region of Biobío . It spans an area of and is administratively constituted by 21 communes. It has a population of 441,604 inhabitants. Its capital is the city of Chillán.-History:...

 of Chile

Chile

Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...

's eighth region of Biobío (VIII Región de Biobío). The town is located on the northwest Pacific

Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...

 coast of the Ñuble Province about 420 km (261 mi) southwest of the national capital of Santiago

Santiago, Chile

Santiago , also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile, and the center of its largest conurbation . It is located in the country's central valley, at an elevation of above mean sea level...

.

On February 27, 2010 Cobquecura was the epicenter of the huge earthquake and tsunami that hit Chile at 03:34 local time

Time in Chile

Continental Chile is situated geographically in UTC−05.Currently, Chile uses 2 different UTC offsets at any given point in the calendar year. Since it practices daylight saving time, in total 4 time zones are used...

 (06:34 UTC), rating a magnitude of 8.8 on the moment magnitude scale

Moment magnitude scale

The moment magnitude scale is used by seismologists to measure the size of earthquakes in terms of the energy released. The magnitude is based on the seismic moment of the earthquake, which is equal to the rigidity of the Earth multiplied by the average amount of slip on the fault and the size of...

 and lasting for about three minutes. According to preliminary reports, approximately 95% of households in the town were destroyed but there were no fatalities.

Demographics

According to the 2002 census

Census

A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...

 of the National Statistics Institute

National Statistics Institute (Chile)

The National Statistics Institute of Chile is a state-run organization of the Government of Chile, created in the second half of the 19th century and tasked with performing a general census of population and housing, then collecting, producing and publishing official demographic statistics of...

, Cobquecura spans an area of 570.3 sqkm and has 5,687 inhabitants (3,032 men and 2,655 women). Of these, 1,493 (26.3%) lived in urban area

Urban area

An urban area is characterized by higher population density and vast human features in comparison to areas surrounding it. Urban areas may be cities, towns or conurbations, but the term is not commonly extended to rural settlements such as villages and hamlets.Urban areas are created and further...

s and 4,194 (73.7%) in rural areas. Between the 1992 and 2002 censuses, the population fell by 9.1% (570 persons).

Administration

As a commune, Cobquecura is a third-level administrative division of Chile administered by a municipal council

Municipal council

A municipal council is the local government of a municipality. Specifically the term can refer to the institutions of various countries that can be translated by this term...

, headed by an alcalde

Alcalde

Alcalde , or Alcalde ordinario, is the traditional Spanish municipal magistrate, who had both judicial and administrative functions. An alcalde was, in the absence of a corregidor, the presiding officer of the Castilian cabildo and judge of first instance of a town...

 who is directly elected every four years. The 2008-2012 alcalde is Julio Manuel Fuentes Alarcón (PRSD

Social Democrat Radical Party

The Social Democratic Radical Party is a social democratic party in Chile.The party is a member of Socialist International....

).The municipal council has the following members:

• Luis Enrique Rodríguez Alarcón (PS
  Socialist Party of Chile
  The Socialist Party of Chile is a political party, that is part of the center-left Coalition of Parties for Democracy coalition. Its historical leader was the late President of Chile Salvador Allende Gossens, who was deposed by General Pinochet in 1973...
  
  )
• Lautaro Igor Millanao Mora (PDC
  Christian Democratic Party
  Christian democratic parties are those political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social teaching, and it continues to be influential in Europe and...
  
  )
• Guillermo Salgado Contreras (ILF)
• Jacqueline Elizabeth Pacheco Alacón (RN
  National Renewal (Chile)
  National Renewal , is a liberal conservative political party belonging to the Chilean right-wing political coalition Coalition for Change in conjunction with the Independent Democratic Union and the Chile First movement...
  
  )
• Temistocle Vera Irribarra (PRSD)
• Jose Pedro Cifuentes Crisostomo (RN)

Within the electoral divisions of Chile, Cobquecura is represented in the Chamber of Deputies

Chamber of Deputies of Chile

The Chamber of Deputies of the Republic of Chile is the lower house of Chile's bicameral Congress. Its organisation and its powers and duties are defined in articles 42 to 59 of Chile's current constitution....

 by Jorge Sabag (PDC) and Frank Sauerbaum (RN) as part of the 42nd electoral district, (together with San Fabián

San Fabián

San Fabián is one of 21 communes in the Ñuble Province of central Chile's Biobío Region. The capital is the town of San Fabián de Alico. The commune spans an area of .-Administration:...

, Ñiquén

Ñiquén

Ñiquén is a commune of the Ñuble province, located in the north of the of Biobío Region of Chile. Geographically, it is delimited by the Perquilauquén River to the north and the Ñiquén River in the south...

, San Carlos

San Carlos, Chile

San Carlos is the name of a city and commune of Ñuble Province in the Biobío Region of Chile.-Geography and agriculture:...

, San Nicolás

San Nicolás, Chile

San Nicolás is a Chilean town and commune in Ñuble Province, Biobío Region.-Demographics:According to the 2002 census of the National Statistics Institute, San Nicolás spans an area of and has 9,741 inhabitants . Of these, 3,428 lived in urban areas and 6,313 in rural areas...

, Ninhue

Ninhue

Ninhue is a Chilean commune and town in Ñuble Province, Biobío Region.-Demographics:According to the 2002 census of the National Statistics Institute, Ninhue spans an area of and has 5,738 inhabitants . Of these, 1,433 lived in urban areas and 4,305 in rural areas...

, Quirihue

Quirihue

Quirihue is a Chilean city in Quirihue, Ñuble Province, Bío-Bío Region.It is located about 72 kilometers northwest of Chillán, 82 kilometers north of Concepción and 398 kilometers south of Santiago-27 February 2010 tsunami and quake:...

, Treguaco

Treguaco

Treguaco, also spelled as Trehuaco, is a Chilean town and commune in Ñuble Province, Biobío Region. The commune spans an area of .-Demographics:...

, Portezuelo

Portezuelo

Portezuelo is a Chilean town and commune located in the Ñuble Province, Biobío Region.-Demographics:According to the 2002 census of the National Statistics Institute, Portezuelo spans an area of and has 5,470 inhabitants . Of these, 1,750 lived in urban areas and 3,720 in rural areas...

, Coelemu

Coelemu

Coelemu is a Chilean commune and city in Ñuble Province, Biobío Region. According to the 2002 census, the commune population was 16,082 and has an area of .-Demographics:...

, Ránquil

Ránquil

Ránquil is a Chilean commune in Ñuble Province, Biobío Region. The communal capital is the town of Ñipas.-Demographics:According to the 2002 census of the National Statistics Institute Ránquil had 5,683 inhabitants . Of these, 1,337 lived in urban areas and 4,346 in rural areas...

, Quillón

Quillón

Quillón is a Chilean city and commune and Ñuble Province, Biobío Region.-Demographics:According to the 2002 census of the National Statistics Institute, Quillón spans an area of and has 15,146 inhabitants . Of these, 7,536 lived in urban areas and 7,610 in rural areas...

, Bulnes

Bulnes, Chile

Bulnes is a Chilean city and commune in Ñuble Province, Biobío Region.-Demographics:According to the 2002 census of the National Statistics Institute, Bulnes spans an area of and has 20,595 inhabitants . Of these, 12,514 lived in urban areas and 8,081 in rural areas...

, Cabrero and Yumbel

Yumbel

Yumbel is a town and commune of the Province of Bío-Bío in the region of the same name, Chile.-History:Yumbel originated from the small fort of San Felipe de Austria, raised in 1585 by Governor Alonso de Sotomayor, on the cerro del Centinela...

). The commune is represented in the Senate

Senate of Chile

The Senate of the Republic of Chile is the upper house of Chile's bicameral National Congress, as established in the current Constitution of Chile.-Composition:...

 by Alejandro Navarro Brain (MAS) and Hosain Sabag Castillo (PDC) as part of the 12th senatorial constituency (Biobío-Cordillera).

External links

Municipality of Cobquecura