Overview

• A massive blackout on Tuesday left 98% of Chile's population, approximately 19 million people, without electricity, with power restored to most regions by Wednesday morning.
• The outage was triggered by a failure in a high-voltage transmission line in northern Chile, leading to cascading shutdowns across the national grid.
• The government declared a state of emergency, imposed an overnight curfew, and deployed security forces to manage traffic and maintain order during the crisis.
• President Gabriel Boric criticized energy companies for the disruption, vowing thorough investigations and accountability for operational failures.
• The blackout disrupted daily life, halting Santiago's metro, affecting copper mining operations, and causing water shortages in some areas.