16 Aug 2017 | 08:43 AM UTC
Taiwan: Massive electricity blackout August 15
Massive electricity blackout in 17 Taiwanese cities on August 15; residual power cuts anticipated in the coming days
Event
Taiwan was struck by a massive electricity blackout on Tuesday, August 15, impacting 17 cities across the island and approximately half of Taiwan's businesses and homes. Taiwanese Premier Lin Chuan warned that the August 15 outage was not an isolated case, before stating that residual power cuts should be expected in the next few days as the island attempts to repair its electricity infrastructure.
Government-owned oil company, the CPC Corporation, blamed the incident on a flawed power replacement process, during which the government had to ration electricity for three hours on Tuesday, leading to the blackout.
Taiwan is currently experiencing a heatwave that is likely to exacerbate the risk of further power shortages.
Context
The August 15 blackout is the worst power outage in Taiwan in nearly two decades. A large earthquake in 1999 caused massive power outages that lasted for approximately three weeks.
Advice
In the event of a power outage, individuals in Taiwan are advised to follow all directions issued by authorities and anticipate potential travel disruptions. Keep battery-powered devices charged as much as possible in case of additional power outages, which can occur without warning.
