Magnitude 7.4 Earthquake – 5 km S of San José del Palmar, Colombia

Re:Magnitude 7.4 Earthquake – 5 km S of San José del Palmar,... by LeoPanthera on Monday August 10, 2026 @09:34PM (#49252278)

> IDK why it's so much more chill than the "child abduction" alerts I get.

Japan, who had the first earthquake early warning system, did research and discovered that scary sounds made people panic, which is a bad thing in a situation when you need people to act quickly. Their standard alert sound is a fairly pleasant chime.

The downside is that some people now have panic reactions to the EEW sound, since it is standardized. I guess sometimes you can't win.

If you look up the sound, don't play it if you are in Japan. That's extremely no bueno.

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Re:Magnitude 7.4 Earthquake – 5 km S of San José del Palmar,... by joquarky on Monday August 10, 2026 @11:18PM (#49252965)

This seems similar to the euphemism treadmill.

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Re:Magnitude 7.4 Earthquake – 5 km S of San José del Palmar,... by Taek on Tuesday August 11, 2026 @07:35PM (#49265944)

Some sounds are genetically more intense than others, like shrill screeching sorts of noises. So not quite as bad as the euphemism treadmill, because there is biology that makes certain sounds fundamentally less terrifying than others.

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