According to Black’s Law Dictionary, Sixth Edition, a fortuitous event is an event

happening by chance or accident. There are events or situations that may validly excuse the
obligor from doing his duties. This is because the events are in the reach of the obligor. Often
referred to as "acts of God," they are commonly manifested as natural calamities such as
storms, flooding, earthquakes and lightning. For example, an airline company cannot be faulted
if in the event it cannot comply with its obligation to transport its passengers if a heavy storm
has cause the cancellation of all flights. As a general rule, the obligor is not responsible for
damages attributable to an unavoidable circumstance, except where the law or the arrangement
between the parties otherwise requires, or where the obligor has already made a delay in the
results. In order for an occurrence to be deemed fortuitous, it must be irrespective of the
obligor's will because the event is either unforeseen or inevitable. It must also be of such nature
that it will be impossible for the obligor to fulfill his obligation; and the obligor must have been
free from contributory causes.

On the other hand, a force majeure is a provision of a contract that requires a party to
delay or cancel the performance of its obligations when such conditions outside its influence
occur, making performance inadvisable, commercially impracticable, unconstitutional or
impossible. The clause may provide that the contract is temporarily cancelled or terminated if
the case of force majeure continues for a defined period of time. A typical list of force majeure
events might include war, riots, fire, flood, hurricane, typhoon, earthquake, lightning, explosion,
strikes, lockouts, slowdowns, prolonged shortage of energy supplies, and acts of state or
governmental action prohibiting or impeding any party from performing its respective obligations
under the contract. So if, for example, a hurricane occurred that shut down a port, the seller
planning to ship its goods through that port would not be liable for late delivery of the goods. In
the absence of a force majeure clause, parties to a contract are left to the mercy of the narrow
common law contract doctrines of "impracticability" and "frustration of purpose," which rarely
result in excuse of performance.

Overall, fortuitous event are events or situations that may validly excuse the obligor from
doing his duties. Additionally, some contracts may contain "force majeure clauses" that specify
how certain forms of incidents can be handled by the parties. Meaning, each document will be
subject to its own terms and conditions and, eventually, those terms and conditions will govern
its application.