Summary

Natural disasters may affect the structural integrity of industrial infrastructures such as chemical plants, large storage systems, oil and gas pipelines, and rail and road transportation of large amounts of hazardous materials. If released into the environment, these materials have the intrinsic potential to trigger one or more accident scenarios due to their flammability, toxicity, explosibility, and capacity to harm the environment. In this case, industrial accidents are defined as Natech (natural hazard–triggered technological accidents), and the Natech accident analysis refers to the evaluation of hazards and consequences of these events.

In the past few decades, several Natech events have clarified its importance: earthquakes and the following tsunamis in Fukushima and Chiba, Japan; the earthquake in Turkey (İzmit or Kocaeli earthquake), which affected oil refineries; hurricanes Rita and Katrina, which affected the offshore plants in the Gulf of Mexico; flooding in Louisiana, which involved the coastal industrial system; the environmental pollution in Italy in fuel storage installations due to heavy rains; and Chinese earthquakes resulting in ammonia release in a crowded town. In all these cases, the Natech accidents overwhelmed the public and internal (industrial) emergency response, which was already under pressure by the initial natural disaster. Furthermore, the populations were struggling to deal with the natural disasters and the resulting Natech accidents simultaneously. Worsening the situation, the occurrence of Natech events is constantly increasing due to climate change, which affects the frequency and intensity of some natural disasters, particularly extreme weather phenomena and wildfires.

Natech accident analysis should be employed, through standardized procedures, by industrial and public decision-makers and industrial designers. To do so, a comprehensive knowledge of Natech accidents is required. In this framework, the study and analysis of past Natech accidents are a relevant starting point, allowing for understanding the main features of such accident scenarios, the cause–consequence chain, the more probable accident scenario, human health impacts, and damages to assets.