Amazon AWS Outage Causes Global Disruptions Across Major Apps and Services

Published: 20 Oct 2025

A widespread outage at Amazon Web Services (AWS) on Monday caused major disruptions across several popular apps and websites, including Snapchat, Fortnite, Duolingo, Coinbase, and Robinhood.

The issue originated from AWS’s US-East-1 region in North Virginia, one of the company’s largest cloud infrastructure zones. Amazon confirmed that multiple core systems, including Amazon EC2 and DynamoDB, experienced “increased error rates,” leading to cascading connectivity failures across the web.

Apps and Platforms Hit Worldwide

Millions of users worldwide reported login errors, message delays, and connection failures. Snapchat users in particular were unable to send Snaps or view friends’ activity, while gaming and financial platforms also faced partial outages.

Reports of issues quickly spread on X (formerly Twitter) and Downdetector, where thousands of users confirmed disruptions not just on Snapchat but also on platforms like Roblox, Canva, and Wordle.

AWS Engineers Working on Recovery

Amazon said its engineers were “actively engaged” in mitigating the problem and restoring affected services. By late Monday, the company reported that most systems were recovering, though some regions continued to face delays.

AWS has not yet detailed the exact cause of the outage but stated that it is investigating the root issue to prevent future incidents.

Impact Highlights Cloud Dependence

The outage underscores how dependent the modern internet is on centralized cloud providers. AWS hosts infrastructure for thousands of companies, from social media and entertainment platforms to banks and government systems. A single regional failure can ripple across multiple industries.

Industry analysts say the event may push businesses to reconsider multi-cloud strategies to reduce downtime risks in the future.

About AWS

Amazon Web Services is the world’s largest cloud computing platform, offering services in computing power, data storage, and networking. It supports millions of applications globally and serves as a backbone for much of today’s online ecosystem.

Sources: Reuters, AP News, The Guardian