Natech
Natural hazard triggered technological accident (Showalter et al., 1994).
Primary reference(s)
Showalter, P.S. and M.F. Myers, 1994. Natural disasters in the United States as release agents of oil, chemical, or radiological materials between 1980-1989: analysis and recommendations. Risk Analysis, 14:169-182. DOI: 10.1111/j.1539-6924.1994.tb00042.x Accessed 20 May 2025
Annotations
Additional scientific description
Natural hazards can trigger fires, explosions, and toxic or radioactive releases at hazardous installations and other infra- structures that process, store, or transport dangerous substances (Krausmann et al., 2017). These technological 'secondary effects' caused by natural hazards are also called 'Natech' accidents. They are a returning but often overlooked feature in many natural-hazard situations and have repeatedly had significant and long-term social, environmental, and economic impacts. In the immediate aftermath of a natural disaster (UNDRR, 2019), Natech accidents add significantly to the burden of the population already struggling to cope with the effects of the triggering natural event (Krausmann et al., 2019).
Natech event consequences can range from health impacts and environmental degradation (e.g. during the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake) to major economic losses at local or regional levels due to damage to assets and business interruption (e.g. due to the 2011 Thai floods). In some cases, ripple effects across sectors can reach global proportions, resulting in a shortage of raw materials and finished products (as was the case following the 2011 Great East Japan earthquake and tsunami) and price hikes (e.g. the impact of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita on the offshore infrastructure in the Gulf of Mexico) (UNDRR, 2019)
Metrics and numeric limits
In addition to country initiatives to address Natech hazards, several international bodies have started to address Natech hazards and risks. For example,
- Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a Natech addendum to its Guiding Principles for Chemical Accident Prevention, Preparedness and Response (OECD, 2021). The addendum consists of a number of modifications to the Guiding Principles and the addition of a new chapter providing more detailed guidance on Natech prevention, preparedness and response. Recognising the potential for severe acute and chronic health impacts from Natech accidents.
- World Health Organization has issued information for public health authorities in the wake of chemical releases caused by natural events, focusing on earthquakes, floods and cyclones. It aims to provide brief information to planners in the health sector and to public health authorities that wish to learn more about chemical releases resulting from natural events.
- United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) has gathered a team of experts who prepared Words into Action Guidelines for National Disaster Risk Assessment and for Man-made/Technological Hazards, both of which contain chapters that discuss actions and guidance for Natech risk reduction (UNDRR, 2020).
Recently, work on developing metrics to measure the performance of Natech risk management has been launched by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre, and a framework for a performance rating system has been proposed by researchers at Kyoto University in Japan (Suarez-Paba, 2019).
Key relevant UN convention / multilateral treaty
UNECE Convention on the Transboundary Effects of Industrial Accidents (UNECE, 2017).
Drivers
Natural hazards can cause multiple and simultaneous releases of hazardous materials over extended areas, damage or destroy safety barriers and systems, and disrupt lifelines needed for accident prevention and consequence mitigation. These are also the ingredients of cascading disasters. Emergency responders are usually not prepared for or do not have the necessary resources to combat multiple release events at the same time (Girgin et al., 2019).
Past events have shown that compound events (e.g., rain on snow cover, leading to increasing snowmelt) or cascading effects (e.g., an earthquake that triggers hazardous materials releases which are then dispersed by a tsunami that follows the earthquake) can increase Natech risk. In case of hydro-meteorological hazards, climate change also amplifies Natech risk by directly impacting the frequency/severity of the triggering natural hazard.
Impacts
Community encroachment on natural-hazard areas, climate change, rapid demographic changes and urbanisation all increase the exposure (and vulnerability) of the population to Natech hazards (Krausmann et al., 2017). Identification of Natech hazards is not always easy as information on technological hazards is often considered confidential and is closely held by industry unless notification and reporting obligations exist.
In addition to acute effects, chronic environmental and health impacts may arise from slow-release Natech events, particularly in groundwater and soil systems (Krausmann et al., 2019; US EPA, 2024).
Indirect effects may include biodiversity loss from persistent contamination, or increased cancer rates due to chronic exposure to pollutants released in Natech events.
Multi-hazard context
The figure below summarises common interactions between Natech and other hazards. This information should be used with caution and not be solely relied upon in Disaster Risk Management, particularly as some interactions may not have been included. Note that hazardous events occurring together or locally in space or time may not necessarily cause, amplify, or be otherwise related to each other. Specific examples of multi-hazard context can be found in the ‘Hazard drivers’ and ‘Impacts’ sections above.
Multi-hazard diagram
Risk Management
The risk management of an industrial installation is usually viewed in isolation from its surroundings and does not take account of the potential interactions with other industry, lifelines and nearby communities to capture the potential for cascading events and the impact on industry resilience, continuity, and recovery (Krausmann et al., 2017). A call for integrated risk governance of Natech hazards has been made, which requires bringing together industry, government agencies overseeing regulatory frameworks, public health and environment authorities, city planners, emergency responders and natural hazard experts, together with potentially affected communities, in order to promote resilient territories (UNDRR, 2017).
Monitoring
Not Applicable
References
Girgin, S., Necci, A., & Krausmann, E., 2019. Dealing with cascading multi-hazard risks in national risk assessment: The case of Natech (Natural hazard-triggered technological) accidents. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 35, 101072. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijdrr.2019.101072
Accessed 20 May 2025.
Krausmann, E., Cruz, A. M., Fendler, R., & Salzano, E., 2017. Technological risk Natech (Natural hazard-triggered technological accidents). In Poljanšek, K., Marin Ferrer, M., De Groeve, T., & Clark, I. (Eds.), Science for disaster risk management 2017: knowing better and losing less (Chapter 3.14, EUR 28034 EN). Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg. ISBN 978-92-79-60679-3. Accessed 20 May 2025.
Krausmann, E., Cruz, A. M., & Salzano, E., 2017. Natech (Natural hazard-triggered technological accidents) risk assessment and management. Elsevier. ISBN: 9780128038079 (Paperback), 9780128038796 (eBook).
Krausmann, E., Girgin, S., & Necci, A., 2019. Natural hazard impacts on industry and critical infrastructure: Natech (Natural hazard-triggered technological) risk drivers and risk management performance indicators. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 40, 101163. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijdrr.2019.101163. Accessed 20 May 2025.
Necci, A., & Krausmann, E., 2022. Natech (Natural hazard-triggered technological accidents) risk management - Guidance for operators of hazardous industrial sites and for national authorities. Publications Office of the European Union. DOI: 10.2760/666413 Accessed 20 May 2025.
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), 2023. OECD Guiding Principles for Chemical Accident Prevention, Preparedness and Response - Third Edition. DOI: 10.1787/162756bf-en. Accessed 1 October 2024.
OECD, 2015. Addendum Number 2 to the OECD Guiding Principles for Chemical Accident Prevention, Preparedness and Response (2nd ed.) to address natural hazards triggering technological accidents (Natech). Accessed 1 October 2024.
OECD/European Union (EU), 2024. Managing Risks from Natural Hazards to Hazardous Installations (Natech): A Guide for Senior Leaders in Industry and Public Authorities. Series on Chemical Accidents, OECD Publishing, Paris. DOI: 10.1787/9bb63229-en. Accessed 20 May 2025.
Suarez-Paba, M. C. (2019). A paradigm shift in Natech (Natural hazard-triggered technological accidents) risk management: Development of a framework for evaluating the performance of industry and enhancing territorial resilience (Ph.D. Thesis). Graduate School of Engineering, Kyoto University, Japan.
United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), 2017. Words into Action guidelines: National disaster risk assessment. Accessed 20 May 2025.
UNDRR (United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction), 2019. Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction. Geneva, Switzerland. Accessed 20 May 2025.
UNDRR, 2020. Words into Action guidelines: Developing national disaster risk reduction strategies. Accessed 20 May 2025.
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), 2017. Convention on the Transboundary Effects of Industrial Accidents. Accessed 20 May 2025.
World Health Organization (WHO), 2018. Chemical releases caused by natural hazard events and disasters: Information for public health authorities. Geneva: WHO. Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO. Accessed 20 May 2025.
United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), 2024. Regional Screening Levels for Chemical Contaminants at Superfund Sites. Accessed 20 May 2025.