http://www.crashforensics.com/tirefailures.cfm
Impacts to the tread surface of the tire can weaken or break the tire's structure. Impacts are characterized as a "severe, concentrated impact with a foreign object, curb or pothole". Sources also report that "total tire failure could be immediate or delayed depending upon the severity of the impact." Impacts to the tread area of the tire create a break across the tire crown with corresponding perpendicular breaks in the tire sidewall.