Chile power outages: thunderstorm and tornado leave over 112,000 customers without electricity in Maule and O'Higgins

Power outages hit central Chile again on Monday, October 26, 2026. A thunderstorm with hail in Maule and a tornado in Requínoa, in the O'Higgins Region, left thousands of homes without electricity. According to the hourly record of affected customers of the Superintendency of Electricity and Fuels (SEC), at 3:00 p.m. there were 112,459 customers without power nationwide, of whom 100,623 were in Maule and 85,895 in the municipality of Talca alone.

In the afternoon, the focus shifted to O'Higgins. At around 5:30 p.m. a tornado, preliminarily rated EF2 by the Chilean Meteorological Directorate, damaged homes, a school and the power lines in Requínoa. In the SEC's 5:00 p.m. record, that municipality had 8,040 customers without power. By 7:00 a.m. on Tuesday 27, the national total had dropped to 3,700 customers, according to the same source.

In Talca, the main cause was lightning. Maule's regional Energy secretary, Carlos Muena, confirmed that a strike hit the Piduco substation, affecting about 169,000 customers, and that a second strike, near the train station, damaged the Estación feeder, leaving about 22,000 customers without power, according to Diario Talca. That second outage was fixed within a few hours. The distribution company CGE reported a fault on a transmission line and first restored service in San Javier, Empedrado and Villa Alegre, according to Diario El Centro.

The regional authority's figure of 169,000 customers is higher than the SEC's hourly record, which takes one snapshot per hour and may miss the exact peak of a short outage. The storm also brought at least three bursts of heavy rain with hail the size of a ping-pong ball, which flooded streets and underpasses. The regional director of the National Disaster Prevention and Response Service (Senapred), Carlos Bernales, reported no injuries. On October 24, Senapred had declared a preventive early warning for Maule due to thunderstorms.

Source: SEC, hourly record of affected customers, accessed on October 27, 2026. n/r: not among the top municipalities at that hour or not reported separately. At 6:00 p.m. outages also rose in the Santiago Metropolitan Region, with 10,089 customers.

The Requínoa tornado began at around 5:30 p.m. The Chilean Meteorological Directorate preliminarily rated it EF2, with estimated winds of 179 to 218 km/h, and Senapred declared a red alert for the municipality. The assessment after 8:00 p.m. reported by La Tercera mentions more than 70 damaged homes, mainly from roofs being blown off, and one person with a minor injury.

The wind tore apart the gym of Colegio Tricahue, where no students were hurt according to mayor Waldo Valdivia, and damaged 12 utility poles, according to Senapred; presidential delegate Susana Pinto spoke of 13. Senapred's regional director, Marcelo Montesinos, reported about 4,000 customers without power in the evening assessment. The local distribution company is CGE.

Tornadoes are not frequent in Chile, but they are not new either: in May 2019 two tornadoes struck Los Ángeles and Talcahuano, in the Biobío Region. For the power grid, the problem is that winds above 180 km/h knock poles and trees onto the lines, and restoring service requires rebuilding the network, not just reconnecting it. That is why it is worth having basic backup at hand, such as an emergency solar kit for power outages.

Storms are not the only cause of power outages. In the early hours of Sunday, October 25, CGE Transmisión suffered the theft of about 3 kilometers of cable on route D-605, between Soruco and Combarbalá, in the Coquimbo Region, according to Revista Electricidad. The outage initially affected 1,492 customers, who got power back within minutes thanks to network maneuvers, but replacing the material will take several business days. It is the second theft of this kind in Combarbalá this year.

In La Araucanía, the regional Electricity Distribution Working Group met for the second time on October 23 to prepare for summer, with a focus on forest fires, according to REDIMIN. The region had 215,806 customers without power at the peak of the July frontal system, and some outages lasted more than 72 and even 84 hours. The SEC filed charges against Frontel and Codiner for alleged failures in managing vegetation near power lines.

Anyone still without power should first report it to their distribution company. CGE takes reports on its website, at 800 800 767 and via WhatsApp, and publishes an outage map by municipality. If the company does not respond or the outage drags on, the claim can be escalated to the SEC.

The law sets automatic compensation when unauthorized outages exceed the hour limits set by the distribution technical standard, although events classified as force majeure may be left out of that calculation. We explain the procedure step by step in our guide on how many customers lose power, how to file a claim and what compensation applies.

This is not the first episode of mass outages in October. The frontal system of October 20 left 127,643 customers without power at its peak, as we reported in our story on the toll of that frontal system. With the arrival of warmer weather, authorities are now focusing on forest fires, which damage lines and make it harder for crews to reach them.

Why did the power go out in Talca?

Because lightning struck the Piduco substation during the thunderstorm on Monday, October 26, according to Maule's regional Energy secretary. A second strike affected the Estación feeder.

How many customers lost power?

The SEC's hourly record showed 112,459 customers without power nationwide at 3:00 p.m. on October 26, with 100,623 in Maule. The regional authority estimated about 169,000 customers affected by the lightning strike at Piduco.

What rating did the Requínoa tornado receive?

The Chilean Meteorological Directorate preliminarily rated it EF2, with winds of 179 to 218 km/h. The final rating depends on its technical review.

Where can I check whether my area has power outages?

On the SEC website, which publishes affected customers by municipality and company, and on your distribution company's outage map.