Why did Chile experience a major blackout in mid-March 2010?

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Chile earthquake of 2010 A collapsed building in Concepción, Chile, following an earthquake, 2010.

In mid-March 2010, Chile experienced a daylong blackout because the country's electrical grid was in a weakened state following the February 27, 2010, earthquake. This vulnerability led to a major failure of a transformer, which caused the power outage across large areas of the country, including Santiago.1