--- title: "Mysterious Explosion At Google Injures Workers Hours Before Major Outage" description: "Google experienced a major outage the same day an explosion occured at one of its major data centers, but didn't comment on whether the events were related." date: "2022-08-10" modified: "2022-08-10" authors: - name: "Frank Landymore" job_title: "Contributing Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/flandymore" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/mysterious-explosion-google-outage" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "Future Society" - "Google" tags: - "data center" - "explosion" - "Google" - "the digest" --- # Mysterious Explosion At Google Injures Workers Hours Before Major Outage ![Google experienced a major outage the same day an explosion occured at one of its major data centers, but didn't comment on whether the events were related.]() *\Image: Futurism\* ## Lights Out A [Google outage]() caused thousands to lose access to its services including search late Monday night. Mysteriously, an electrical explosion wreaked havoc at one of its data centers in Council Bluffs, Iowa, earlier that same day. The explosion seriously injured three electricians, according to [local reporting]() on the incident. Oddly enough, if Google is to be believed, the two incidents are entirely unrelated to each other. The company is officially blaming the outage on a "software update," as [*The Guardian* reports]() — not the explosion — leading to [speculation]() on whether the incidents were indeed related. ## Severe Burns The electricians were on duty at a nearby substation when an explosion known as an arc flash occurred, severely burning all three of the workers. The official cause is still being investigated. "We are aware of an electrical incident that took place today at Google’s data center in Council Bluffs, Iowa, injuring three people onsite who are now being treated," a Google spokesperson [told *SFGate*](). Later that night, [DownDetector](), a website that tracks outages of major internet domains, reported a massive influx of outages in Google services that started around 9:00 pm and peaked at 9:41 pm. Everything from Gmail to Google Maps suddenly went down, and users attempting to access them and other Google services [were met with error codes](). It’s possible that the timing of the events is only a coincidence, but until we hear more from Google, there’s no way to know for certain. ## Google This Whatever the cause, the outage is yet another reminder of just how much the Internet — and its users — rely on Google. Think beyond just the search engine: Google's Android operating system powers [billions of smartphones and other devices]() worldwide. "\[The outage\] once again highlights our dependence on technology service providers and shows how reliant many people are on a single operator for daily functions," wrote cybersecurity professor Paul Haskell-Downland [in *The Conversation*](). It’s not the first major [Google outage](), and it won’t be the last. For now, we hope to get a better explanation of both the explosion and the outage as the story develops. **More on Google:** [*Android Malware May Have Charged Millions of Customers Without Permission*]() ## Author At Futurism, my work has often centered on bringing a sense of clarity and insight to complex topics ranging from the regulation of emerging technologies to the esoteric ideologies of Silicon Valley executives, while striving not to lose the poetic sense of awe inspired by often-obscure fields like astrophysics and quantum computing. I broke the story of CNET using AI to produce articles that turned out to be riddled with factual errors and plagiarism — a dam-breaking inflection point, as I've reported, that's inspired copycats and endless discourse while beguiling stakeholders ranging from tech giants to purveyors of spam around the web. My work at Futurism has been cited by publications including CBS News, the Los Angeles Times, Vice, Gizmodo, Engadget, the Verge, and Vanity Fair. I grew up in locales ranging from India to China, and now live in the exotic suburbs of Virginia. In my free time, I'm an avid reader of weird sci-fi literature, an aficionado of East Asian cinema, and, regrettably, a relapsed gamer. Allegedly, I’m working on a debut novel, currently untitled. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()