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Authorities were investigating a power blackout in parts of southern California, Arizona and Mexico on Thursday that left more than 1 million customers without power and caused widespread traffic jams.
San Diego Gas & Electric said all of its 1.4 million customers were without power. The problem appeared to have originated in Arizona, the utility said.
"This caused our line from AZ and from the north of our region to both trip off," the utility posted on its Twitter account.
"Think of the system as linked by springs, when one part goes out the rest are affected," another Twitter post from the utility said.
Power outages in California stretched Thursday from San Clemente to the state's border with Mexico, a San Diego County spokesman told CNN.
In Arizona, about 56,000 customers in Yuma lost power, Arizona Power and Supply said.
Parts of Mexico's Baja California and Sonora states were also without power, Mexican authorities said.
At the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station near San Clemente, California, units "tripped from grid disturbance" but have offsite power and were in normal shutdown mode, said Eliot Brenner, director of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Office of Public Affairs.
The Civil Protection Department in Baja California said authorities there were working to fix a problem at a hydroelectric plant.
Luis Enrique Cordova, emergency director in Sonora state, said power was also out in the city of San Luis Rio Colorado.
San Diego County had activated its emergency operations center as officials tried to learn more about the blackout, county spokesman Michael Workman said.
The cause of the blackout was unclear. The San Diego utility said greater power usage during hot weather could be responsible.
Linzi Berkowitz in Carlsbad, California, said the widespread power outage wreaked havoc during rush hour.
"The whole city is a mess and hopefully it doesn't get worse," she told CNN iReport.
Power went out about 3:45 p.m. in San Diego, said Joe Pettigrew, who said he was trapped on the 10th floor of an office building.
"We don't have air conditioning and the windows don't open," he said, noting that it was about 80 degrees outside.
Rebecca Bloomfield of the San Diego airport authority said the airport was letting only inbound flights land. Outbound flights and security screening were halted due to the power outage.
Source: CNN
San Diego Gas & Electric said all of its 1.4 million customers were without power. The problem appeared to have originated in Arizona, the utility said.
"This caused our line from AZ and from the north of our region to both trip off," the utility posted on its Twitter account.
"Think of the system as linked by springs, when one part goes out the rest are affected," another Twitter post from the utility said.
Power outages in California stretched Thursday from San Clemente to the state's border with Mexico, a San Diego County spokesman told CNN.
In Arizona, about 56,000 customers in Yuma lost power, Arizona Power and Supply said.
Parts of Mexico's Baja California and Sonora states were also without power, Mexican authorities said.
At the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station near San Clemente, California, units "tripped from grid disturbance" but have offsite power and were in normal shutdown mode, said Eliot Brenner, director of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Office of Public Affairs.
The Civil Protection Department in Baja California said authorities there were working to fix a problem at a hydroelectric plant.
Luis Enrique Cordova, emergency director in Sonora state, said power was also out in the city of San Luis Rio Colorado.
San Diego County had activated its emergency operations center as officials tried to learn more about the blackout, county spokesman Michael Workman said.
The cause of the blackout was unclear. The San Diego utility said greater power usage during hot weather could be responsible.
Linzi Berkowitz in Carlsbad, California, said the widespread power outage wreaked havoc during rush hour.
"The whole city is a mess and hopefully it doesn't get worse," she told CNN iReport.
Power went out about 3:45 p.m. in San Diego, said Joe Pettigrew, who said he was trapped on the 10th floor of an office building.
"We don't have air conditioning and the windows don't open," he said, noting that it was about 80 degrees outside.
Rebecca Bloomfield of the San Diego airport authority said the airport was letting only inbound flights land. Outbound flights and security screening were halted due to the power outage.
Source: CNN