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Characteristics of Technological Disasters

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 October 2024

Emel Altintas Open the ORCID record for Emel Altintas [Opens in a new window] ,
Ali Kaan Ataman  and
Murat Ongar
Emel Altintas*
Affiliation:
Ufuk University, Department of Emergency Medicine, Ankara, Turkey
Ali Kaan Ataman
Affiliation:
Izmir Tepecik Training and Research Hospital, Konak, İzmir, Turkey
Murat Ongar
Affiliation:
Ankara Training and Research Hospital, Ankara, Ankara, Turkey
*
Corresponding author: Emel Altintas; Email: [email protected]
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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.

Keywords

technological disasterglobaltransport accidentindustrial accidentmiscellaneous accident
Type
Research Letters
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 18 , 2024 , e197
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc

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