Operationalizing resilience engineering for natural hazard triggered technological (Natech) events

Herrera, Ivonne; Cruz, Ana Maria; Sanchez Silva, Mauricio

doi:10.5281/zenodo.17819008

Operationalizing resilience engineering for natural hazard triggered technological (Natech) events

Herrera, Ivonne; Cruz, Ana Maria; Sanchez Silva, Mauricio

Publisher: Zenodo
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17819008
Repository: zenodo.org
Language: en

Abstract

From abstract: Several studies have pointed out the increased frequency of natural hazard triggered technological accidents (known as Natechs). The study of past Natech events have demonstrated that they can have area wide impacts on people and property with ripple effects across socio-technical systems. For example, in 2018, a vapor explosion occurred at an aluminum plant in Okayama Prefecture, Japan, due to flooding, causing destruction of neighboring businesses, nearby infrastructure and people’s homes, and affecting evacuation for both the floods and the accident. Hence, in highly industrialized and urbanized areas, when Natech events occur, societies may face unexpected events making enhancing resilience essential. This requires a “whole-of-society”, “whole-of-government” and an all hazards approach. The increased popularity of societal resilience reflects its value in dealing with the increased complexity of today's society, addressing survival and even prosperity when facing unexpected challenging situations. In this context, Resilience Engineering (RE) contributions address the need to improve the ability to design and architect roles to enhance highly adaptable socio-technical systems working across purposes and different scales (individual, organizational and societal). Its objective is to improve capabilities to understand and navigate complexity, interdependencies, multiple trade-offs, limited resources and continuous changes. A basic premise is that these resilience capabilities exist but are often overlooked or neglected, therefore, we use the RE concepts as glasses to uncover existing capabilities in Natech contexts.This presentation addresses the added value that RE offers to deal with Natech events

Full text

Operationalizing resilience engineering for natural hazard triggered technological (Natech) events Ivonne Herrera, Studio Apertura, NTNU Samfunnsforskning AS (Societal Research), Norway Ana Maria Cruz, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway. Mauricio Sanchez, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Los Andes University, Colombia DOI: Zenodo 10.5281/zenodo.17819008 Joint 11th biannual REA Symposium and 14th annual Resilient Health Care Society Meeting | 20-24 October 2025 | Brazil Initial ideass Natech event: “technological accidents caused by the impact of natural events such as hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, tsunamis.” (Cruz and Krausmann, 2013; Krausmann et al., 2017) 5. 2 6 Case 1: An Aluminum factory explosion and floods in Shimobara, Soya City, Okayama Prefecture, Japan, 2018* Estimated maximum Flood depth Soja city Takahashi river Oda river Shinpon river Shimobara District (Source: https://youtu.be/7KbWdQXamsE) (Source: https://www.asahi.com/articles/) Aluminum factory (Map adapted and prepared by H. Park, 2020) *Araki et al. (2021) Case 2: Natech at Dosquebradas, Pereira, Colombia, 2011 4 Consequences •32 fatalities •More than 80 injured •Property and environmental damage Source: Semana magazine Source: Vanguardia Liberal Landslide Pipeline rupture Gasoline released. Reached the river. Vapor cloud finds ignition source Vapor cloud explosion and fire Heavy rain •Quick clay landslide as a trigger •Cascading infrastructure failures •City disruption and displacement of citizens On going work focus on NaTech risk management Case 3: Possible scenario, Oslo, Norway Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction : “Sets guidelines and road map to reduce the risks from natural, environmental, technological and biological hazards. ” ((United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction [UNDRR], 2015)) Picture: AI generated As technological, environmental, and climatic changes accelerate, they are fundamentally reshaping the nature of Natech disasters. To navigate this future, society must move beyond merely reacting to threats, we need to combine robustness and resilience Directive (EU) 2022/2557 on the resilience of critical entities and repealing Council Directive 2008/114/EC. Directive (EU) 2022/2555 on measures for a high common level of cybersecurity across the Union (NIS 2 Directive). European Commission & High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. (2025). EU Preparedness Union Strategy to prevent and react to emerging threats and crises (JOIN(2025) 12 final). Brussels. Collective potential capacity of all societal actors - both formal and informal, digital and analogue, organized and unorganized–to anticipate, adjust, adapt, change and thrive during everyday life and when dealing with challenging situations (prior, during, and after) (adapted HORIZON 2020 ENGAGE project, 2023). Societal resilience Heritage and Social Resilience - ITCL An approach describing actions where technical safety, operational procedures, effective governance, and strong communities are integrated within the physical landscape to create a system that can withstand, adapt, and recover. (adapted from The European Union's Cohesion Policy and Territorial Agenda 2030). Territorial resilience Image: euromed-economists.org