Illapel


Illapel is a Chilean city, which is the capital of the Choapa Province, Coquimbo Region. It lies along the Illapel River and marks the country's narrowest point along a parallel. It is located to the east of Los Vilos.

Administration

As a commune, Illapel is a third-level administrative division of Chile administered by a municipal council, headed by an alcalde who is directly elected every four years. The 2008–2012 alcalde was Denis Cortés Vargas.
Within the electoral divisions of Chile, Illapel is represented in the Chamber of Deputies by Adriana Muñoz and Luis Lemus as part of the 9th electoral district,. The commune is represented in the Senate by Evelyn Matthei Fornet and Jorge Pizarro Soto as part of the 4th senatorial constituency.

Demographics

According to the 2002 census of the National Statistics Institute, Illapel spans an area of and has 30,355 inhabitants. Of these, 21,826 lived in urban areas and 8,529 in rural areas. The population grew by 4.6% between the 1992 and 2002 censuses.

Earthquake of September 16, 2015

On September 16, 2015, at 22:54:33 UTC, a great earthquake of magnitude 8.3 hit the area, with an epicenter west of Illapel. The earthquake caused physical damage, the loss of human lives, forced the evacuation of one million people from the coast, and a tsunami warning was issued for parts of South America, Hawaii, California and French Polynesia. Copper prices spiked in early trading, on fears of supply disruption.