10 Countries With The Creepiest Emergency Alert Systems & 10 With Strangely Tame Ones
That Noise Really Isn’t Helping…
In an emergency, you want something to get your attention. Though it needs to be a little loud, some countries took their warnings to a whole new level. You never know when your peaceful day will turn into a terrifying EAS test, but we’ve narrowed down which ones keep you calm and which ones only make things worse.
1. Canada
Canada wasn’t messing around when it came to their emergency alerts. Unfortunately, that means you’ll hear the most nightmarish sequence of sounds to ever emanate from your TV. It’s loud, it’s accompanied by a bright red screen, and that creepy robotic voice only exacerbates our panic.
2. United States
The States’ EAS isn’t any easier on the ears. It’s pretty similar to Canada’s, which doesn’t make it better, though at least this one doesn’t take up the entire screen. You’re bound to experience different versions across states, but the worst you’ll see is a red banner interrupting your show.
3. Australia
The scariest thing about this alert is just how loud it is. Thankfully, it doesn’t sound any more uncanny than your everyday alarm, but the pitch is nothing to sneeze at, and you bet you’ll hear it well across the room.
4. Philippines
Not everyone will find this one scary, especially since it’s just a series of loud buzzing noises. However, that tone instills a lot of fear in us! Blaring it super loud during the evening news won’t quell our fear, and repeating it in a succession of sharp blasts definitely won’t help.
5. Brazil
Brazil’s loud wail is going to get your attention—no matter what you’re doing. There’s something about a prolonged siren that hits differently than a sequence of them. Either way, when that alert comes knocking, you'd better perk up your ears.
6. Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan’s emergency alert isn’t as creepy as others on this list, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy to listen to. It’s hard to say what freaks us out more: the sound effects or the voice that competes for attention over it.
7. Norway
Have you ever watched a cartoon where a character is standing on train tracks right as a locomotive hurls towards them? That’s sort of like this siren. It sounds like a massive train horn blasting in your face, and you know what, we don’t like it!
8. Bulgaria
Bulgaria’s EAS doesn’t give you time to think—it just blares an incredibly loud siren and then you’re on your own. The only good thing about it is that it’s just one blast, not a series of them that freezes us in place.
9. Greece
Greece’s alarm sounds exactly like what you’d hear before a zombie apocalypse. Its siren is something out of a factory that’s ground zero for an outbreak, and the next thing you know, the entire town is lost to brain-eaters.
Dimitris Kiriakakis on Unsplash
10. China
The only reason China’s loud siren isn’t higher on the list is that this alarm at least counts down. You have about ten seconds to prepare for the loudest noise of your life, which is plenty of time to steel your nerves and grab some earplugs.
Alright, now that we have some nightmarish noises out of the way, let’s dive into a few countries that keep things nice and calm.
1. Japan
“Wake up, honey. It’s time for school.” At least, that’s what we imagine this alarm saying to us. Its gentle little tinkle reassures us that everything’s going to be just fine…even if an emergency is lurking on the horizon.
2. Cuba
Cuba’s sequence of beeps sounds like someone’s trying to send a telegraph. Sure, there’s some urgency to it, but it’s the furthest thing from an air raid siren blowing out your eardrums. If anything, it’s almost like peaceful Morse code.
3. France
If you’ve ever watched Jerry Springer, you’ve heard this sound before. France’s alarm sounds like it’s trying to censor itself, and those beeps are thankfully much easier to stomach in an emergency.
4. Italy
Boy, we hope you brought your glow sticks ‘cause this alert is about to drop a serious beat. It honestly sounds straight out of a nightclub, which is a little odd in the middle of an emergency, but we’ll take it any day over Canada’s horrifying sounds.
5. Finland
We don’t know what else we were expecting from Finland. For such a peaceful country, you bet they weren’t going to scare citizens in the face of danger. Instead, you have a message tapped out in gentle Morse code. It sounds eerie at first, but quickly becomes as calm as the country itself.
SaiKrishna Saketh Yellapragada on Unsplash
6. Sweden
Sweden’s alarm kind of sounds like a sports celebration. You know the ones we mean—ecstatic fans sounding blow horns in the street after their team wins! Just imagine that, and you’re right there.
7. Greenland
Thankfully, the sirens in Greenland aren’t as terrible as they could be. With so few people living there, the last thing you’d want to cause is a giant panic! We can’t say this one puts our fears to bed, but it doesn’t cause us nightmares, either.
8. Pakistan
Well, we had a sweet wake-up call from Japan, but Pakistan’s alert isn’t as peaceful. It’s the kind of alarm that’ll wake you up, though, especially since it sounds like the most obnoxious sound you could pick right in the morning.
9. Chile
Chile’s is…freaky, but it’s thankfully not terrifying. At the end of the day, it’s akin to your standard alarm. If that doesn’t freak you out in the morning, you’ll be more than fine listening to this frantic siren.
10. Singapore
Singapore’s emergency alert is more annoying than anything. It’s super loud, but it’s just a siren that plays in quick blasts. Their system also has a series of noises for different scenarios, and they all sound pretty much the same.
