What happened

A malfunction in electronic and software protection systems triggered the disconnection of Chile's critical 500 kV Vallenar-Coquimbo high-voltage transmission line in the Norte Chico region at 3:16pm local time on 25 February 2025. The resulting disturbance cascaded through the national grid as other power stations repeatedly failed while attempting to restart, ultimately cutting power to over 90% of Chile's population — some estimates put the figure as high as 98% — affecting roughly eight million homes across 14 of the country's 16 regions; only the sparsely populated Aysén and Magallanes regions, with a combined population under 300,000, were unaffected. President Gabriel Boric declared a state of emergency and imposed an overnight curfew from 10:00pm on 25 February to 6:00am on 26 February, with the military deployed to maintain public order and 150 additional buses deployed in Santiago to compensate for the closure of the Metro system. Interior Minister Carolina Tohá said three people dependent on electrical medical equipment died during the outage. ISA Interchile, the Colombian state-owned company operating the failed transmission line, confirmed its involvement and participated in the investigation into the malfunction; no sabotage or external attack was identified. By 26 February, approximately 94% of households had power restored, with about 90% of overall electricity consumption back online, though some areas continued to experience intermittent outages. This was documented as an accidental equipment/protection-system failure, not an attack.

When cited sources give different casualty, damage or spill figures for this event, they’re reported side by side above rather than merged into one number. See how confidence levels work.