Army in action: Power outage causes state of emergency in Chile

Army in action Power outage causes state of emergency in Chile 26.02.2025, 02:56 am

A nearly nationwide power outage is causing chaos in Chile. The armed forces are deployed to maintain public order. The economy is coming to a standstill, unless it has emergency generators. Meanwhile, people are suddenly left without money.

There has been a power outage in large parts of Chile. The government has declared a state of emergency and a curfew from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. The widespread blackout was caused by the failure of a transmission line in the north of the country, said Interior Minister Carolina Toha. She ruled out a cyberattack as the cause.

Hours after the outage, power was partially restored in some parts of the capital Santiago and in the coastal cities of Valparaiso and Vina del Mar. The blackout affected areas in the north with its mining industry as well as the central and southern regions where most of the Andean country's population lives.

Santiago was practically in darkness. The sirens of emergency vehicles blared throughout the city. The subway, which carries millions of passengers, was out of service. Passengers had to be rescued from the stranded trains. "There is nothing. There is no cash. No money. Nothing," said Jose Luis Orlandini, who was eating in downtown Santiago when the power went out. The Interior Ministry said it was deploying armed forces across the country to maintain order.

Copper mines operate with emergency power

The head of Chile's National Electricity Coordinator (CEN), Ernesto Huber, said there was no timetable yet for the restoration of electricity throughout the country, but that electricity was gradually returning to areas in the north and south.

"We have restarted several power plants, mainly hydroelectric plants," Huber said, adding that the cause of the outage was still being investigated. The companies were working to restore power "as quickly as possible," Huber explained.

Production has been interrupted in large copper mines in the north of the country. Chile is the world's largest copper producer. According to an insider, the world's largest copper mine, Escondida, also lost power. The state-owned copper company Codelco announced that all of its mines were affected. The copper mines in Chuquicamata, Andina, Salvador and El Teniente are without power, and the remaining mines are partially continuing to operate with emergency generators. The companies Antofagasta and Anglo American announced that they were continuing to operate their mines with emergency generators.