A massive CenturyLink internet outage knocked out 911 emergency call services across Washington state Thursday, a problem that persisted into Friday for some.
The outage began early in the day but by late Thursday night, the company tweeted that its engineers had identified a “network element” that was affecting services.
Monroe, Louisiana-based CenturyLink didn’t provide details of the problem and it didn’t indicate how many customers were affected. Customers from New York to California reported outages.
We discovered some additional technical problems as our service restoration efforts were underway. We continue to make good progress with our recovery efforts and we are working tirelessly until restoration is complete. We apologize for the disruption.
— CenturyLink (@CenturyLink) December 28, 2018
U.S. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai said in a statement via Twitter that the disruption in service was “completely unacceptable." The agency will investigate.
The nationwide @CenturyLink service outage and the delay in restoring critical 911 capabilities is unacceptable. I have spoken to CenturyLink to express my concerns and have directed the @FCC’s public safety staff to launch an investigation. My statement below. #publicsafety pic.twitter.com/HgQas1xtyB
— Ajit Pai (@AjitPai) December 28, 2018
Calls in South King County were working Friday morning, according to The Seattle Times. Meanwhile, Kitsap County had reportedly restored service. Service in Pierce County was slowly being restored. The 911 outage did not affect Snohomish or Whatcom counties, The Times reported.
If callers continue to experience issues, police and fire agencies encourage people to contact the following numbers:
Seattle: 206-583-2111 and 206-625-5011 or text 911
University of Washington Police: 206-685-8973
King County: 425-401-7788
Bellevue and Eastside: 425-577-5656
South King County: 253-852-2121
Unincorporated areas of King County: 206-296-3311 (This number also works for the following agencies, according to the King County Sheriff’s Office: Town of Beaux Arts Village, City of Burien, City of Carnation, City of Kenmore, King County International Airport, City of Maple Valley, King County Metro Transit, Muckleshoot Indian Tribe, City of Newcastle, City of Sammamish, City of SeaTac, City of Shoreline, Town of Skykomish, Sound Transit and City of Woodinville.)
Kitsap County: 360-308-5400
Kittitas County: 509-925-8534
Pierce County: 253-538-3240, option 4; and 253-798-4722
Thurston County: 360-704-2740
Snohomish County: 360-654-1204 and 425-407-3999
Skagit County: 360-654-1204 and 360-428-3211
Island County: 360-654-1204 and 360-679-9567
Whatcom County: 360-654-1204, 360-676-6911
Tacoma, Fife and Fircrest: 253-627-0151
Bothell: 425-486-1254
Snoqualmie: 425-888-3333 and 425-837-3200
Centralia: 360-740-1105
Redmond: 425-566-2500
Issaquah Police: 425-837-3200
Enumclaw: 360-825-3505
Chelan and Douglas counties: 509-663-9911
Clallam County Dispatch: 360-417-2259
Coast Guard Sector Puget Sound: 206-217-6001
Lewis County Dispatch: 360-740-1105
Mason County Dispatch: 360-426-4441
Jefferson County Dispatch: 360-385-3831
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report. This story is developing. It will be updated as new information becomes available.
