Worst solar storm of the century DESTROYED power grids; Know if it can strike us again in 2023

tech.hindustantimes.com:

The Carrington event is the most intense solar storm event in our recorded history, but it occurred 164 years ago in 1859, and back then, humans had rudimentary communications technology, but even then it sparked fires to break out spontaneously and the operators suffered electric shocks. But one does not need to go that far to realize the terrifying potential of solar storms. 34 years ago, the Earth witnessed the worst solar storm of the century and it was so powerful that it knocked out power grids in Canada. Not only that, but it also caused short-wave radio blackouts that impacted the operations of a UN peacekeeping force in Namibia. Check out the details.

On March 13, 1989, the Earth witnessed a solar storm so strong that it perplexed even the most seasoned astronomer. Although we do not have an accurate measure of the storm's intensity since the Kp index was not functional, the Disturbance storm time index (Dst index) recorded a reading of 500.

However, one did not need any instruments to understand the severity of the solar storm. As soon as it struck, the northern skies were filled with aurora, which went as far down as Mexico. The southern polar region also got its own aurora that covered Australia and was seen as far up as South America. So, in a way, almost the entire Earth was encapsulated by aurora lights.

However, that was not the worst part about the storm. The Hydro-Québec power network in Canada collapsed due to the strong geomagnetically induced currents. This event led to a power outage that lasted more than 9 hours and affected over 6 million people.

Further, widespread communication blackout was also detected. Radio networks were jammed all across Europe but the worst affected was the military dispatched