Northeast blackout of 2003
Major power outage in August 2003 in North America
Date | August 14–16, 2003 |
---|---|
Duration | 2 hours–4 days, depending on location |
Location | Northeastern United States, Central Canada |
Type | Blackout |
Cause | Software bug in the alarm system in the control room of FirstEnergy |
List of Northeast Blackout Cities
change
The Northeast blackout of 2003 was a big power outage that happened in many parts of the northeastern and midwestern United States, and the Canadian area of Ontario on Thursday, August 14, 2003, starting soon after 4:10 p.m. EDT.[1]
Most places got power back by midnight (in about 7 hours since it was lost), some as early as 6 p.m. on August 14 (in 2 hours since it was lost),[2] while the New York City Subway started serving customers again by 8 p.m.[2] Full power came back to New York City and Toronto on August 16.[3] It was the world's second biggest blackout in history, second to the 1999 Southern Brazil blackout.[4][5]
The blackout happened because of a software problem in the alarm area of the control room of FirstEnergy.
References
change- ↑ "What Caused the Power Blackout To Spread So Widely and So Fast?" (Press release). Genscape. August 15, 2003. Archived from the original on May 18, 2016. Retrieved July 13, 2011 – via PR Newswire.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Major power outage hits New York, other large cities". CNN. Turner Broadcasting System. August 14, 2003. Archived from the original on September 14, 2008. Retrieved September 16, 2008.
- ↑ International Comparison Major Blackouts and Restoration (PDF) (Report). 2016-05-05. pp. 16–17. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-03-13.
- ↑ "2003: The great North America blackout". CBC News. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. August 14, 2003. Archived from the original on August 15, 2015. Retrieved September 19, 2008.
- ↑ "INDEPTH: Power Outage | Timeline". CBC News. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. August 18, 2004. Archived from the original on February 3, 2013. Retrieved September 15, 2008.