disaster map

Every so often, I check in on this giant disaster map published in Hungary. Not everything has English translations, but most of the news links were published originally in English, so I'm never at a loss for what the "Vegyi baleset" in Black River Falls, Wisconsin is. And it has very specific icons, including a little chicken for bird flu outbreaks, and different color triangle-wave icons for different sized earthquakes.

If you look at it without following any of the links, it looks like World War III is breaking out, with volcanoes going off and floods and quakes and nukes and poison clouds. But if you follow just about any of the links, you'll find they're outdated, unsubstantiated, or surprisingly low-key. Even when people die, it's usually some industrial accident where two peple died and one is in critical condition. That chicken icon in Egypt is for four people hospitalized on suspicion of having contracted bird flu; it's possible that's not what they have. The damage level for that story is listed as "moderate", and I can't figure out why.

I don't know why, but it's almost calming to know that there's this disaster map that's trying so hard to scare me and failing.