Chile’s president has declared a state of emergency after an electricity blackout plunged most of the country into darkness on Tuesday, including the capital Santiago.

Power was restored to most of Chile's 19 million people Wednesday after the country's most disruptive blackout in 15 years, the government said, as authorities lifted a strict curfew imposed when the outage left 98% of the population without electricity.

Internet and mobile phone services blinkered offline. People complained of water shortages as pumps stopped working. Emergency generators helped hospitals and government offices continue operating.