A major blackout left most of Chile without power for hours on Sunday, two weeks after a massive earthquake that killed hundreds and weakened infrastructure.
Electricity was restored quickly, but the failure of the South American country’s main power grid was another test for Chilean President Sebastian Pinera, who took office last week and must rebuild after the huge earthquake.
The power cut rattled the nerves of Chileans still living with aftershocks following the deadly magnitude 8.8 quake on Feb. 27 that triggered tsunamis, and tore up roads and towns, causing an estimated US$20 billion to US$30 billion in damage.
PHOTO: REUTERS
The lights went out at 8:50pm, affecting millions of people and most of Chile’s main cities in a stretch of territory more than 2,000km long from north of the capital Santiago to Puerto Montt in the south.
The quake-devastated city of Concepcion was among those plunged into darkness and some of the country’s key copper mines briefly halted production.
Soon after midnight, power had returned to about 90 percent of Chile, a long, narrow country that produces copper, fruit and wine, and is one of the most developed in the region.
Claudia Morales, a 32-year-old nanny, was on the Santiago subway when the power cut hit, stranding commuters in the dark for about 15 minutes. Phones were down too, so they could not call anyone.
“Everyone started to say aloud maybe there had been another quake,” Morales said. “Everyone was really panicked.”
Passengers had to be evacuated from several subway cars, officials said.
Interior Minister Rodrigo Hinzpeter said the blackout was because of a problem with a 500 kilowatt transformer.
“Fortunately, the reason for the failure has been identified,” Hinzpeter said.
Hinzpeter said that while the power outage was not directly related to the big earthquake last month — which knocked out power at the time — there would be an investigation to see whether there was an indirect cause.
State mining giant Codelco, the world’s top copper producer, said the disruption briefly shut its mines in central Chile. Its Teniente division operated with emergency equipment and output was partially affected, a mine official said, though power was returning to normal.
Most of Chile’s copper mines are on the northern power grid, so they were not affected.
Some Chileans took the power outage in their stride.
“To be honest, I’m not scared,” 24-year-old mechanic Francisco Silva said. “They say it was a power cut because the earthquake left the electricity lines weakened. I am calm, because I think the government can solve the problems. We have no option but to trust in it.”
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