On January 7, 1983, at approximately 12:15 am EST, a massive explosion, ignited by an overflowing gasoline storage tank at the Texaco storage facility in Newark, NJ, and a nearby incinerator, destroyed three tanks, killing one person and injuring 24, while the blast was felt up to 100 miles away.
Cause:
The explosion was said to be caused by a human error; specifically, workers failed to monitor a pipeline delivery of gasoline to a tank, resulting in an overflow and a subsequent ignition by a vapor cloud drifting towards an incinerator 1,000 feet away.
Consequences: