Editing Cascading failure (section)

== Interdependent cascading failures ==
[[File:Interdependent_relationship_among_different_infrastructures.tif|thumb|right|Illustration of the interdependent relationship among different infrastructures]]Diverse [[infrastructure]]s such as [[water supply]], [[transportation]], fuel and [[power station]]s are coupled together and depend on each other for functioning, see Fig. 1.  Owing to this coupling, interdependent networks are extremely sensitive to random failures, and in particular to [[Targeted threat|targeted attacks]], such that a failure of a small fraction of nodes in one network can trigger an iterative cascade of failures in several interdependent networks.<ref>{{cite web|title=Report of the Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Attack|url=http://empcommission.org/docs/A2473-EMP_Commission-7MB.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Rinaldi|first1=S.M.|last2=Peerenboom|first2=J.P.|last3=Kelly|first3=T.K.|date=2001|title=Identifying, understanding, and analyzing critical infrastructure interdependencies|journal= IEEE Control Systems Magazine|volume=21|issue=6|pages=11–25|doi=10.1109/37.969131}}</ref> [[Power outage|Electrical blackouts]] frequently result from a cascade of failures between interdependent networks, and the problem has been dramatically exemplified by the several large-scale blackouts that have occurred in recent years. Blackouts are a fascinating demonstration of the important role played by the dependencies between networks. For example, the [[2003 Italy blackout]] resulted in a widespread failure of the [[Rail transport|railway network]], [[Health system|health care systems]], and [[financial services]] and, in addition, severely influenced the [[telecommunication network]]s. The partial failure of the communication system in turn further impaired the [[electrical grid]] management system, thus producing a positive feedback on the power grid.<ref>{{cite journal|last=V. Rosato |first=Issacharoff, L., Tiriticco, F., Meloni, S., Porcellinis, S.D., & Setola, R. |title=Modelling interdependent infrastructures using interacting dynamical models |journal=International Journal of Critical Infrastructures |year=2008 |volume=4 |issue=1–2 |pages=63–79 |doi=10.1504/IJCIS.2008.016092 |bibcode=2008IJCI....4...63R }}</ref> This example emphasizes how inter-dependence can significantly magnify the damage in an interacting network system.