In 1989, at the peak of the last cycle of solar activity, a geomagnetic storm knocked out North America's electric power distribution system, leaving millions of users without electricity and causing losses worth US $ 10 billion dollars.
一九八九年，上一回太陽活躍期的尖峰時刻，磁爆摧毀了北美輸配電系統，造成幾百萬戶停電，損失上百億美元。當時的美國總統前往日本訪問，座機空軍一號受磁爆影響，與地面通訊一度中斷。