Google Lost Data After Lightning Hit Its Data Center in Belgium

August 20, 2015 12:13 AM EDT

Despite the popular saying, lightning does strike twice, or even four times — as it did at a Google data center in Belgium last Thursday, causing problems for the next several days and leading to permanent data loss for a small percentage of unlucky users.

The problem began when the facility lost power briefly during one of the late-summer thunderstorms common in the area. That caused problems with reading or writing data for about five percent of disks in the data center. Most were fixed but data on .000001% of the center’s total disk space was lost. “In these cases, full recovery is not possible,” the company said in a statement.

Google accepts full responsibility for the incident and says it is making upgrades to prevent something like this from happening again.

The Businesses That Make Up Google’s New Umbrella Company, Alphabet

Google's new self-driving prototype car drives around a parking lot during a demonstration at Google campus on May 13, 2015, in Mountain View, Calif. — **Google X**: Google’s most ambitious projects, such as its self-driving cars, often begin in this secretive research departmentTony Avela—AP

**Nest**: The smart thermostat company that Google bought for $3.2 billion in 2014 is the centerpiece in Google’s plan to control the smart homes of the future.Aya Brackett—Nest

A Google Fiber technician gets supplies out of his truck to install Google Fiber in a residential home in Provo, Utah, January 2, 2014. Provo is one of three cities Google is currently building and installing gigabit internet and television service for business and residential use. — **Fiber**: Google’s high-speed broadband Internet service is now available in three cities, with plans to expand to six more in the coming months.George Frey—Reuters

Ventures: Google’s venture capital arm already has a church-and-state separation from the company’s other endeavors, regularly investing in companies that compete with Google products. That line of separation should be even more stark thanks to the restructuring.Tripplaar Kristoffer—Sipa USA

a contact lens Google is testing to explore tear glucose. — **Calico**: Google launched this life sciences company in 2013 with the aim of extending human life. The company is devoted to long-term research that may not come to fruition for decades.Google/AP

**Capital**: This investment arm focuses on late-state growth companies, and like Google Ventures, operates independently of Google’s consumer-product businesses.Ventures and Capital

Signage outside the Google Inc. headquarters in Mountain View, California on Oct. 13, 2010. — Tony Avelar—Bloomberg/Getty Images

The Businesses That Make Up Google’s New Umbrella Company, Alphabet

More Must-Reads from TIME