The power returned to most areas just before 11 a.m., but at it the peak of the outage, there were around 3,800 PG&E customers without power.
Oakland police say they received calls that a manhole cover at the intersection of MLK and 3rd blew off. Some also said they saw light smoke in the air. Authorities do not know what caused the cover to fly off, but they say it was most likely a high-pressure situation. The direct cause of the outage is still under investigation, but the incident has been linked to the power outage.
Service was knocked out as far west as the produce and waterfront area, and as far east as 10th Street and Webster. It caused major disruptions for businesses, with most employees standing outside, unable to operate their equipment. The outage also appears to have set off a number of false alarms. Oakland fire received several calls, but none appeared to be actual emergencies. Oakland City Hall underwent a fire drill, but was not affected by the outage.
By 11:30 a.m., only 41 customers were still without power.
