Bitcoin Miners Suspended Their Work Due to the Flood in China

Floods in Sichuan Disrupt Bitcoin Mining Operations

On Tuesday, local authorities reported about a heavy flood in Sichuan, which has been ongoing since Monday. Wenchuan County seems to have suffered most of all. China Daily also reported that landslides violated both local electricity and communications infrastructures and also resulted in the loss of at least seven people.

Some mining areas in Wenchuan were destroyed, and mining devices are covered with dirt now, according to a video provided to CoinDesk by one farm operator who preferred to remain anonymous. Poolin Mining Pool also posted similar videos on Twitter.

The video operator added that the rainfall caused excessive water levels in reservoirs used by local hydroelectric power stations. A lot of stations were forced to suspend their production, creating a shortage of electricity that could affect mining farms in the short term.

On Wednesday, Sichuan Minjiang hydropower company stated that its three power stations in the area have already shut down.

Impact on Hashrate and Weather Forecasts

At the current moment it is not known, how many bitcoin miners suffered, as they are scattered heavily throughout the province. 

Wenchuan County, measuring some 2,000 square miles, is just one small part of all the prefecture.

According to the mining pool btc.com, on August, 19 the bitcoin hashrate updated its absolute historic peak at 82.5 EH/s. Since that moment, the rate has fallen to 77.4 EH/s, but it is not clear whether it’s related to the incident.

It remains to be seen, when the situation comes back to normality, as the local weather forecast indicates that rains are likely to be continued in coming days in Wenchuan.