The Chilean government was forced to declare a state of emergency on Tuesday after the majority of the country was left without electricity for over eight hours.
At 3:16 PM local time, a transmission cable failed, leaving 98% of the country without power.
According to the National Electricity Coordinator (CEN), the malfunction cut was caused by a “disconnection” in the affected cable. This cable’s failure consequently caused a chain reaction in the rest of the power network, leading to a blackout affecting all regions except for the western region of Aysén and the southern region of Magallanes, which have their own independent electricity networks.
The blackout led to widespread disruption, with banks and businesses forced to close their doors.
Additionally, thousands of passengers had to be evacuated from the metro in the capital Santiago. One passenger said, “We were like sardines in the dark,” according to the BBC. People who had been in train station lifts when the blackout occurred had to be rescued by firefighters, while various videos online showed passengers using their mobile phone torches to illuminate the way out of pitch black stations.
Images showed long queues at bus stops, with people becoming increasingly frustrated as buses packed with passengers passed them by without stopping. The number of people waiting for buses continued to grow, as many workers were sent home as a result of the power cut. One shopkeeper said that shopkeepers “started closing up at around 4 or 5pm, according to the BBC.
Traffic lights also failed as a result of the power cut, resulting in one instance of a truck colliding with a car at a crossing where the traffic lights were not working. At least one other accident was reported.
At one theme park, named Fantasilandia, 15 people had to be rescued from a rollercoaster which broke down as a result of the blackout.
Essential equipment in hospitals, prisons, and government buildings were kept functioning by backup generators. Some copper mines were forced to shut down, while others were able to use auxiliary power in order to keep their operations running. Some people reported water shortages as pumps dependent on electricity ceased to function.
A curfew was introduced between 10:00 PM on Tuesday February 25 and 6:00 AM on Wednesday 26.
Most Chileans had power restored by midnight on Wednesday. By Wednesday morning, more than 90% of residential electricity consumption had been restored, according to CEN, though some regions continued to have intermittent power.
Chile’s interior minister, Carolina Toha, said of the power cut: “Both the incident and its impact are a cause for worry”, explaining that several safety nets were unsuccessful and attempts to bring several power stations back online failed repeatedly.
The official cause of the power cut remains under investigation, though officials have clarified that it was not caused by a cyberattack or criminal activity.
The last time Chile experienced a blackout of similar severity was in March 2010.
Featured image credit:
Image: Avenida Maratón in Santiago, during the power outage
Photographer: JFBerton via Wikimedia Commons
Source: Wikimedia Commons
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en
