Chile blackout impacts nine mn people
September 25th, 2011 - 5:48 pm ICT by IANSSantiago, Sep 25 (IANS) More than nine million people were affected by a massive power outage that plagued northern and central parts of Chile Saturday night, including capital Santiago, officials said.
Two-and-a-half hours after the blackout at about 8.30 p.m., more than 90 percent of the capital region’s power supply was restored, but system instability and congestion of cell phone and Internet networks would remain for a while, Energy Minister Rodrigo Alvarez told the media.
The power outage was caused by a hitch in the Central Interconnected System, which provides electricity supply to 93 percent of the population, he said, adding that a problem in the remote recovery computer system may force technicians to recover the system manually, reported Xinhua.
“We would not rule out any cause for the outage,” the minister said.
It was the second massive blackout in Chile since a 8.8-magnitude earthquake struck the South American nation Feb 27, 2010 and severely damaged its electrical distribution system.
- Strong 6.7-magnitude aftershock causes power outages in quake-hit Chile - Mar 16, 2010
- Blackout hits quake-hit Chile - Mar 15, 2010
- Spanish firm plans $615 mn solar energy project in Chile - May 17, 2012
- Chile envisions integrated Latin American power grid - Jan 14, 2012
- Panel to probe power outage at Delhi airport terminal - Aug 08, 2011
- At least 10 people injured following strong earthquake in southern Peru, northern Chile - May 06, 2010
- Flights delayed at Delhi as T3 has blackout - Aug 07, 2011
- At least 47 dead after massive 8.8 quake in Chile; Pacific-wide tsunami warning issued - Feb 27, 2010
- More than 300 dead in massive Chilean earthquake (Third Lead) - Feb 28, 2010
- Massive 8.3-magnitude earthquake rocks Chile; one dead - Feb 27, 2010
- Storm Induced Duquesne Light Outage Could Last Through Saturday - Sep 24, 2010
- Six killed in magnitude-8.8 earthquake in Chile (Lead) - Feb 27, 2010
- Blackout leaves 40 million Brazilians in the dark - Nov 11, 2009
- No power outages during Deepavali: Government - Oct 19, 2011
- Massive 8.8-magnitude earthquake rocks Chile; four dead; Tsunami warning for USA - Feb 27, 2010
Tags: cell phone, chile, computer system, congestion, electrical distribution system, electricity supply, energy minister, internet networks, magnitude earthquake, massive blackout, massive power outage, nine mn, power supply, rodrigo álvarez, santiago, saturday night, south american nation, system instability, two and a half hours, xinhua