--- description: The nationwide blackout, the first of its kind in 20 years, “shows how fragile our system is,” said the energy minister. title: Blackout Hits Whole of Ecuador image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3128fc81d35d5110/698a57f247ca3832aa3bda9f/ecuador-blackout.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Ecuador](/tag/ecuador/) ## Ecuador Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Nationwide Blackout Hits Ecuador by [Stephan Kueffner / Bloomberg](/author/bloomberg/) ## Stephan Kueffner / Bloomberg Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 20, 2024 1:30 AM CUT  People look for alternative transport as Quito metro stopped after a blackout in Quito June 19, 2024. People look for alternative transport as Quito metro stopped after a blackout in Quito June 19, 2024.Galo Paguay—AFP/Getty Images by [Stephan Kueffner / Bloomberg](/author/bloomberg/) ## Stephan Kueffner / Bloomberg Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 20, 2024 1:30 AM CUT A blackout hit the whole of Ecuador on Wednesday, leaving the nation of 18 million without power. Energy Minister Roberto Luque blamed the massive outage on a incident with a transmission line in southern Ecuador which triggered a “cascading disconnection.” The blackout was the first of its kind in 20 years and “shows how fragile our system is, and reflects the energy crisis we’re experiencing,” Luque told reporters in Guayaquil. At 7 p.m. local time, 95% of power service was restored and full service is expected to resume before midnight local time, according to the government. **Read More:** [_Ecuador Suspends Visa Deal With China Due to ‘Worrying Increase in Migratory Flows’_](https://time.com/6989866/ecuador-suspends-china-visa-irregular-immigration/ "undefined") Quito’s Mayor Pabel Muñoz said that the capital’s recently-inaugurated subway, which has an independent backup power supply, also stopped running. Ecuador last suffered a series of rolling blackouts early this year amid a severe drought. Heavy rains in recent days however also forced the disconnection of the nation’s biggest hydroelectric plant because of a risk from erosion, which also led private pipeline operator Oleoducto de Crudos Pesados Ecuador SA to shut down its pipeline and declare force majeure. With proper investment and maintenance of transmission lines, this incident would have been avoided, Luque said. Plans to prevent a total blackout were prepared two decades ago after the previous one and never implemented, he added. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6990101/ecuador-nationwide-blackout-energy-crisis/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6990101/ecuador-nationwide-blackout-energy-crisis/"},"headline":"Nationwide Blackout Hits Ecuador","datePublished":"2024-06-20T01:30:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T17:48:26.398Z","description":"The nationwide blackout, the first of its kind in 20 years, “shows how fragile our system is,” said the energy minister.","url":"https://time.com/6990101/ecuador-nationwide-blackout-energy-crisis/","keywords":["Ecuador","wire","overnight","News Desk"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3128fc81d35d5110/698a57f247ca3832aa3bda9f/ecuador-blackout.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Stephan Kueffner / Bloomberg"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3128fc81d35d5110/698a57f247ca3832aa3bda9f/ecuador-blackout.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Ecuador Blackout","caption":"People look for alternative transport as Quito metro stopped after a blackout in Quito June 19, 2024.","creditText":"Galo Paguay—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/ecuador/","name":"Ecuador"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6990101/ecuador-nationwide-blackout-energy-crisis/","name":"Nationwide Blackout Hits Ecuador"}}]}] ```