''Seismic Seconds'' is a documentary

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed ...

that aired in the late 1990s on the

National Geographic Channel National Geographic (formerly National Geographic Channel; abbreviated and trademarked as Nat Geo or Nat Geo TV) is an American pay television network and flagship channel owned by the National Geographic Global Networks unit of Disney General ...

. The program analysed the causes of six incidents, five involving the loss of human life. The better-known

sequel A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the sam ...

to ''Seismic Seconds'', '' Seconds From Disaster'', was spun off from the series. In the British version, the narrator says in the

voiceover Voice-over (also known as off-camera or off-stage commentary) is a production technique where a voice—that is not part of the narrative (non- diegetic)—is used in a radio, television production, filmmaking, theatre, or other presentation ...

: The beginning of this voiceover: was later used and modified for the series '' Seconds From Disaster'':

Episodes

{, class="wikitable" !# !Title !Disaster !Date of disaster !Nature of disaster , - , rowspan="2", 1 , Bhopal Gas Disaster{{Cite book , last1=Shah , first1=Shashank , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1_u7BAAAQBAJ , title=Soulful Corporations: A Values-Based Perspective on Corporate Social Responsibility , last2=Ramamoorthy , first2=V. E. , date=2013-09-02 , publisher=Springer Science & Business Media , isbn=978-81-322-1275-1 , pages=42 , language=en ,

Bhopal disaster The Bhopal disaster, also referred to as the Bhopal gas tragedy, was a chemical accident on the night of 2–3 December 1984 at the Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) pesticide plant in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India. Considered the world's ...

, 3 December 1984 , Human error , - , bgcolor="FFFFFF" colspan="4", In

Bhopal Bhopal (; ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and the administrative headquarters of both Bhopal district and Bhopal division. It is known as the ''City of Lakes'' due to its various natural and artificial lakes. It ...

, India, lethal

methyl isocyanate Methyl isocyanate (MIC) is an organic compound with the molecular formula CH3NCO. Synonyms are isocyanatomethane and methyl carbylamine. Methyl isocyanate is an intermediate chemical in the production of carbamate pesticides (such as carbaryl, ...

gas was accidentally released from a pesticides plant run by a subsidiary of

Union Carbide Union Carbide Corporation is an American chemical corporation wholly owned subsidiary (since February 6, 2001) by Dow Chemical Company. Union Carbide produces chemicals and polymers that undergo one or more further conversions by customers befor ...

. Between 2,500 and 5,000 people in Bhopal died on the day of the disaster, and thousands more have died since from ill-effects. , - , rowspan="2", 2 , Crash of TWA 800 ,

TWA Flight 800 Trans World Airlines Flight 800 (TWA800) was a Boeing 747-100 that exploded and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean near East Moriches, New York, on July 17, 1996, at about 8:31pm. EDT, 12 minutes after takeoff from John F. Kennedy International A ...

, 17 July 1996 , Electrical fault, central fuel tank explosion , - , bgcolor="FFFFFF" colspan="4", Over the Atlantic Ocean, a

Boeing 747 The Boeing 747 is a large, long-range wide-body airliner designed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes in the United States between 1968 and 2022. After introducing the 707 in October 1958, Pan Am wanted a jet times its size, ...

operating as TWA Flight 800 took off from

John F. Kennedy International Airport John F. Kennedy International Airport (colloquially referred to as JFK Airport, Kennedy Airport, New York-JFK, or simply JFK) is the main international airport serving New York City. The airport is the busiest of the seven airports in the Ne ...

. Twelve minutes into the flight the aircraft exploded and disintegrated, killing all 230 occupants. , - , rowspan="2", 3 , The Eruption of Mount Saint Helens , 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens , 18 May 1980 , Lava bulge opened by earthquake, volcanic eruption , - , bgcolor="FFFFFF" colspan="4", Mount St. Helens, a

volcano A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates ...

in the state of

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

that had lain dormant for 123 years, began to experience

seismic activity An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from ...

in March 1980. A series of earthquakes and small eruptions ensued as a large bulge grew in the North face of the mountain. On 18 May, another earthquake caused the north face to collapse, triggering an eruption that blew off the top and side of the volcano. 57 tourists, local residents and scientists perished. , - , rowspan="2", 4 , Death of Ayrton Senna , 1994 San Marino Grand Prix crash , 1 May 1994 , Loss of control of

Williams FW16 The Williams FW16 is a Formula One car designed by Adrian Newey for the British Williams team. The FW16 competed in the 1994 Formula One season, with Williams winning the Constructor's Championship, and British driver Damon Hill finishing run ...

, - , bgcolor="FFFFFF" colspan="4", At the

San Marino Grand Prix The San Marino Grand Prix () was a Formula One championship race which was run at the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari in the town of Imola, near the Apennine mountains in Italy, between 1981 and 2006. It was named after nearby San ...

track, triple

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship ...

world championship winner

Ayrton Senna Ayrton Senna da Silva (; 21 March 1960 – 1 May 1994) was a Brazilian racing driver who won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in , , and . Senna is one of three Formula One drivers from Brazil to win the World Championship and wo ...

lost control of his car and crashed into a concrete barrier wall at Tamburello. Then the front right tire flew up and struck his helmet. Senna was killed instantly. , - , rowspan="2", 5 , Sinking of HMS Coventry , HMS Coventry sinking , 25 May 1982 , Enemy aircraft bombing, failed intercept by HMS Broadsword , - , bgcolor="FFFFFF" colspan="4", During the

Falklands War The Falklands War ( es, link=no, Guerra de las Malvinas) was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territori ...

, two British warships - HMS ''Coventry'' and HMS ''Broadsword'' - prepared for battle, tasked with defending the British fleet from air attack. An attack force of Argentinian aircraft

bomb A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-transmitted mechan ...

ed the ''Coventry'' and the ''Broadsword''. One bomb hit the ''Broadsword'', but failed to explode until it had exited the ship's hull. Three bombs hit the ''Coventry'', of which two exploded on board. The ''Coventry''

capsize Capsizing or keeling over occurs when a boat or ship is rolled on its side or further by wave action, instability or wind force beyond the angle of positive static stability or it is upside down in the water. The act of recovering a vessel fr ...

d shortly afterwards and sank the next day. Nineteen crew members were killed. , - , rowspan="2", 6 , The Airshow Miracle , RIAT MiG-29 collision , 24 July 1993 , Pilot error , - , bgcolor="FFFFFF" colspan="4", At the then-biannual

Royal International Air Tattoo The Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT) is the world's largest military air show, held annually in July, usually at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, England in support of The Royal Air Force Charitable Trust. The show typically attracts a to ...

held at

RAF Fairford Royal Air Force Fairford or more simply RAF Fairford is a Royal Air Force (RAF) station in Gloucestershire, England which is currently a standby airfield and therefore not in everyday use. Its most prominent use in recent years has been as an ...

, two

Mikoyan MiG-29 The Mikoyan MiG-29 (russian: Микоян МиГ-29; NATO reporting name: Fulcrum) is a twin-engine fighter aircraft designed in the Soviet Union. Developed by the Mikoyan design bureau as an air superiority fighter during the 1970s, the ...

s flying an

aerobatics Aerobatics is the practice of flying maneuvers involving aircraft attitudes that are not used in conventional passenger-carrying flights. The term is a portmanteau of "aerial" and "acrobatics". Aerobatics are performed in aeroplanes and glider ...

routine as part of the Tattoo air display collided in mid-air. Both pilots ejected from their aircraft and survived the accident, and there were no fatalities among the spectators.

References

National Geographic (American TV channel) original programming 1990s American documentary television series Documentary films about disasters

Episodes

See also

References