Note: The level of severity is relative to the scale of the event in relation to the context it is taking place. For instance, the Haiti Earthquake of 2010 has a high severity in terms of its impact on the Haitian economy. On the global scale, its severity is much more limited.
Supply chains can be subject to natural and anthropogenic disruptions that have an impact on their scale and scope. It is challenging to classify disparate events, particularly their severity. Some notable supply chain disruptions include:
- The Sendai eathquake and tsunami of 2011 impacted the production of car components, including electronics, resulting in assembly line disruptions accross the world.
- A local event, floods in the Tchao Phrya river around Bangkok disrupted a quarter of the global hard drive production, impacting personal computer manufacturers, distributors and retailers.
- In 2017, Hurricane Harvey landfall in Texas and Louisiana, distrupting major petrochamical clusters and the provision of plastics.
A global event such as the Covid-19 pandemic has multifaceted impacts that are much more complex to assess than a single event.