Broken or Tripped Circuit Breaker?

[froddan]

Thanks again for your replies!
I would certainly be very careful when opening both outlets and the breaker.
I've opened a few outlets before, so I should be able to check for loose connections.
I'm a bit doubtful to the broken outlet, only because the power was lost when a hairdryer was used simultaneously as a few other electrical devices using the same outlet. Sounds to me that it would be the time when a breaker would trip, but you are the experts.
I would certainly shut off the main power when going in to any of these outlets...if no luck, I'll call the experts.
Thanks again!

[normel]

What usually happens is when a high current draw appliance is used (like a hairdryer) and there is a poor connection at a push-in, the resultant heating causes the connection to fail completely. Most of the time this is at a working receptacle and is usually the one closest to the failed ones.

[froddan]

I got it!!! Thanks to you guys!
Apparently, the outlet closest to the one where the hairdryer was plugged in had a loose connection, and I managed to fix it!
Thanks a bunch to all of you who contributed to this! You guys were very helpful and perfectly correct in your advice!
F