A sweeping power blackout leaves most of Chile in darkness

On Tuesday (Wednesday Australian Eastern Standard Time), a massive power outage plunged much of Chile into darkness. The sudden incident left commuters stranded, disrupted internet services, and paralyzed business and daily life, as officials scrambled to restore power.

The Chilean government declared a state of emergency and implemented a mandatory nighttime curfew, which lasted until 6 a.m. Wednesday (8 p.m. Australian Eastern Standard Time). The outage caused intermittent internet and mobile phone service, suspended mining operations at the world's largest copper producer, and prompted complaints of water shortages due to the shutdown of electric water pumps. Hospitals and government departments relied on emergency generators to maintain operations.

Speaking after sunset, Interior Minister Carolina Tohá warned of potential disasters, although the actual cause remained unclear. "Our priority, and the reason for issuing this announcement, is to ensure the safety of the people," she said, announcing that the government had deployed security forces to the darkened streets to control traffic and contain chaos. "Obviously, this is something that no one expected."

More than five hours after the outage began, around 10 p.m., at least 7 million people were still without power, and none of the 14 affected regions had fully restored electricity. Chile's grid operator, the National Electricity Coordinator, stated that a disruption occurred on a high-voltage trunk transmission line responsible for carrying electricity from Chile's northern Atacama Desert to the capital, Santiago. However, the coordinator did not specify the actual cause of the grid's widespread paralysis, which affected areas from the port of Arica in Chile's far north to the Los Lagos agricultural region in the south.

In the country of 19 million people, traffic lights went out, soccer games were canceled, classes were suspended, and cultural events were postponed. Businesses across various sectors, from restaurants and bars to movie theaters, suffered losses. Some recalled the fear of being trapped in subway cars, while others, especially the elderly, worried about being unable to leave apartment buildings because elevators had stopped working.

"Everything stopped, it was chaos," said Jorge Calderón, a writer and resident of Santiago. He also added that the lack of electricity posed a risk of food spoilage in refrigerated goods during the summer heat in the Southern Hemisphere. Chile's National Disaster Response Service, Senapred, stated that the power outage caused blackouts in 14 of the country's 16 regions, including Santiago, home to approximately 8.4 million people, and authorities said that subway service would be suspended until further notice.

Tohá said that hospitals, prisons, and government buildings were using backup generators to keep essential equipment running. Officials said they were evacuating passengers from dark tunnels and subway stations in Santiago and other parts of the country, including the coastal tourist hotspot of Valparaíso. Videos shared on social media from across Chile showed chaotic intersections without functioning traffic lights, people using cell phones as flashlights in underground subways, and police being deployed to help evacuate buildings.

Transportation Minister Juan Carlos Muñoz urged people to stay home, saying, "Now is not a good time to go out because our transportation system is not functioning normally." He stated that at most only 27% of the city's traffic lights were working. Authorities at Santiago International Airport said that the terminal had switched to emergency power, but warned that "some flights may be affected." Chile's state-owned copper mining company, Codelco, said that the power outage "affected all operations," but did not elaborate.