Chile Power Blackout

SOURCE www.npr.org
A sweeping blackout plunged most of Chile into darkness, stranding commuters, knocking the internet offline, and paralyzing businesses and daily life as officials scrambled to restore power.

Key Points

  • Chile experienced a sweeping blackout, affecting most of the country
  • High-voltage backbone transmission line disruption caused the outage
  • Government declared a state of emergency and imposed a nighttime curfew

Pros

  • Government declared a state of emergency to ensure people's safety
  • Emergency generators helped hospitals and government offices continue operating

Cons

  • Internet and mobile phone services went offline
  • World's largest copper producer suspended mining operations
  • People complained of water shortages as pumps running on electricity stopped working