This paper introduces a possible new, to-date not recognized mechanism of microelectronic chip damage due to ESD as well as numerical simulation of some corresponding damage scenarios for an ESD protection device. The model presented herein recognizes the effects of thermo-mechanical coupling that can produce excessive mechanical stresses, elastic shock waves and mechanical damage in a chip during an ESD event. This mechanism can get activated at temperatures well below melting point and thus may be an early contributor to latent and "hard" ESD failures. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.