Northwestern students were left in the dark Thursday afternoon when a short-lived power outage blacked out parts of South Campus.

A string of campus buildings connected to the same power line feeder lost electricity at about 2:30 p.m. These included buildings on Arts Circle Drive, Norris University Center, Facilities Management, Allen Center, Annenberg Hall, University Library, the Central Utility Plant and buildings along the west side of Sheridan Road between Foster Street and Library Place.

A representative from Commonwealth Edison said an above-ground power line shorted, either because of the weather or a cable fault. ComEd fixed the problem by about 4 p.m.

When parts of Norris lost power for about 45 minutes, no one could use the elevators, ATMs or computer stations. LaSalle Bank, Willie’s Food Court and Sbarro were forced to briefly shut down, but Willie’s Too was unaffected.

Sbarro had to dump a few pizzas and hot pasta dishes because of health regulations, but most of the food was relocated to ovens, which were not affected by the outage, said Paul Komelasky, district manager for SodexhoUSA.

“We just responded appropriately,” he said.

Students at a chamber orchestra rehearsal at Pick-Staiger Concert Hall said their performance of a Brahms piece ended on an eerie note.

“Just as we played the last chord, the lights went out,” said James Smith, a Music sophomore. “I’m not saying there’s a connection, but … “