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People gather on a street of downtown Santiago the powerful 8.8-magnitude earthquake that shook Chile on Saturday - Source: Reuters -
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Cities across Chile were without power on Monday and output at
some mines disrupted after a main power grid failed a fortnight
after a massive earthquake killed hundreds and ravaged
infrastructure.
State mining giant Codelco, the world's top copper producer, said
the disruption shut its mines in central Chile. But its Codelco
Norte division in the northern part of the country was
unaffected.
Global miner BHP Billiton's Escondida deposit, the world's largest
copper mine, was operating normally and was not affected, a union
leader said.
Most of Chile's copper mines are on the northern power grid, which
was not hit by the blackout on the central grid.
Presidency Minister Cristian Larroulet said power could return in
the coming hours.
The blackout began at 8:50 p.m. (1.50pm NZT) and affected the
capital, Santiago, as well as cities such as Concepcion, which was
recently devastated by a major earthquake.
Interior Minister Rodrigo Hinzpeter told local media the blackout
was due to a problem with a-500 kilowatt transformer.
He said that while the power outage was not directly related to an
8.8-magnitude earthquake that struck Chile on February 27, there
would be an investigation to see whether there was an indirect
cause.
He said it was not clear how long it would take for the power
supply to fully recover. Power was slowly coming back to some parts
of Santiago, but many other cities were still in darkness. Phone
service was also down in much of the country, witnesses said.
The Central Interconnected System, or SIC grid, was the one
affected. It delivers power to many cities in the country including
the capital.
"We've stopped receiving energy in the Santiago distribution
grid," Juan Pablo Larrain, spokesman Chilectra power company told
Chile's TVN television.
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