At the site of construction for elongation of Osaka city subway line No.2 (Tanimachi line), the suspending work had been conducted in the underground for the exposed pipes of medium and low pressure gas (Figures 5 and 6). A joint of the drainer for the medium pressure pipe became detached, and that caused gas to blow out, ignite, and then explode violently (Figure 7).
Results of fault tree analysis are described below.
Figure 8 - Fault tree diagram based on morphology, mechanism, and process of the destruction.
The possible causes of the gas leak are considered to be rupture, draw out, crack, or opening of the pipe. Results of investigation after the accident showed that a joint of the drainer for the medium pressure pipe was drawn down, and that was assumed to cause the leak of gas.
The same type of the drawn joint had an initial strength that was rated against an inner pressure of about 8 tons, however, the detached joint could not resist an inner pressure of even 1 ton. The cause of this change in the strength of the joint could be one or more of the following; (1) the strength of the joint had decreased, (2) no measure was taken to prevent the drawing off the joints, and (3) the construction work on the day of the accident formed a suspending condition of the pipe. These complex conditions caused the drawing down of the joint of the pipe.
Cause (1) of the decrease in strength of the joint was considered to be the result of the following three factors, initial defects, gradual degradation over time by the traffic load, and influences from the construction work of the subway. The possibility of initial defects that were formed when the joint buried under the ground, was estimated by considering the working situation and procedure of the burying process as well as the burying conditions at that time. The gradual degradation of the joint strength was considered to be important because of the shallow depth at which he medium pressure gas pipe was buried that caused it to suffer from vibration and subsidence by the passing traffic vehicles prior to the start of the construction work on the subway. After beginning the subway construction work, repeated excavation and burying in the area for the experimental drilling and covering was estimated to exert a larger influence than the traffic loads even though the period was much shorter.
The source of the ignition was regarded at first to be an emergency vehicle, which caught fire at the site of the gas leakage. However, because the fire of the emergency vehicle continued for about ten minutes, the concentration of the gas mixture in the upper part of the pit just below the fire was believed to have already exceeded the limit of combustion, so that there was no fear of catching fire. Otherwise, the fire in the emergency vehicle should have occurred at the same time as the ignition of the explosion. The explosion occurred at near the center where the emergency vehicle that had caught fire located. However, the ignition point does not always coincide with the center of explosion because of a phenomenon by which the flame caused by the ignition propagates in the mixed gas before the explosion. From the reasons mentioned above, it is difficult to consider that the emergency vehicle fire was the source of ignition. There were many other potential sources of ignition around the site. The ignition source was considered to be one of those other potential sources except the emergency vehicle. 
Results of event tree analysis are described below.
Figure 9 - Event tree diagram for the explosion and the leak of gas by drawing off the joint.
The fastening strength of the gas pipe was decreased by an initial defect that had occurred immediately after the burying work. Furthermore, the joint strength degraded gradually over time from vibration and subsidence caused by the traffic loads, and finally the joint strength decreased rapidly as a result of the influences of the subway construction work. The pipe was exposed in hanging condition during the construction work. The decreased joint strength could not resist the inner pressure because there was no prevention against drawing off. Then the joint was drawn off, and caused the gas leak. The explosion occurred as a result of some unidentified ignition source.