That gets to the point of how is it specifically that disruptive events manage to disrupt.
Sometimes it's physical disruption or damage. Very often though it's interference with energy cycles or communications and control. See various neurotoxins or the effects of cyanide (it blocks ATP cycling in mitochondria -- directly affecting the cellular energy cycle).
EMP is an energy signal that causes direct physical damage to long-length or fragile conductors, disabling both energy transmission and processing equipment, and communications systems.
Optical comms systems are unaffected, however. And systems based on microwave repeaters don't have the long-length conductors that telegraph systems did in the case of Carrington.
Sometimes it's physical disruption or damage. Very often though it's interference with energy cycles or communications and control. See various neurotoxins or the effects of cyanide (it blocks ATP cycling in mitochondria -- directly affecting the cellular energy cycle).
EMP is an energy signal that causes direct physical damage to long-length or fragile conductors, disabling both energy transmission and processing equipment, and communications systems.
Optical comms systems are unaffected, however. And systems based on microwave repeaters don't have the long-length conductors that telegraph systems did in the case of Carrington.