Great Blackout

The Great Blackout was a worldwide, nuclear-produced electromagnetic pulse blackout that began during the Great War and lasted for an unknown period of time after the War.

Background
The EMP blast would affect many electronics, such as cars and planes causing many deaths to those in the air and some even on the road. Most sensitive electronics using transistors would be severely affected, but those still primarily composed of vacuum tubes, such as many robots and terminals, would be largely unaffected due to their immunity to an EMP.

The blackout seems to have stopped most, if not all, functioning vehicles and most electronics. When Salt Lake City was hit directly with thirteen nuclear warheads, Randall Clark's truck and a passing Chryslus car came to an abrupt stop. According to the Shi Emperor, a Chinese People's Liberation Army navy submarine, Shi-Huang-Ti, washed ashore in the San Francisco bay area after it ceased to function due to the Blackout. Staff Sergeant Michael Daly's Vertibird crashed on the rooftop of the Museum of Freedom in Concord due to the Great Blackout, and several airplanes crashed in the area surrounding Boston Airport.

Appearances
The Great Blackout was referenced by the Shi in Fallout 2 and by Randall Clark in Honest Hearts, as well as Staff Sergeant Michael Daly in his personal log in Fallout 4.