Characteristics of Technological Disasters.

Abstract

Objective: Disasters are the consequences of natural or technological hazards that affect a vulnerable society.¹ Technological disasters are divided into three groups: industrial, transport, and miscellaneous.^2,3 It is possible to determine the risks of technological disasters, to determine priorities, and to plan services by knowing this epidemiology.⁴ In this study, we aimed to define the distribution and characteristics of the subtypes of technological disasters in the world according to regions and years.

Methods: Our study was conducted using the international dataset at www.emdat.be/. The technological disasters between 1970 and 2020, the years they occurred, their locations (region and continent), the types of disasters, and the numbers of dead and affected were recorded.

Results: We found that the greatest number of disasters occurred between 2001 and 2010. The most common type of disaster was transportation accidents. While the continent with the most frequent disasters was Asia (3 879 [45.6%]), it was followed by Africa (2 220 [26.1%]) and South and North America (1 359 [16%]).

Conclusions: Transport accidents are the most common cause of technological disasters, and road accidents are the most common type of transport accident.