Quake and flood hazards at a glance

A new government website provides threat levels for a wide range of natural hazards in Switzerland using an easy-to-read interactive map.

The websiteExternal link, produced in four languages including English by the federal natural hazard agencies, brings together information about avalanches, earthquakes, floods, forest fires, frost, heat waves, rain, slippery roads, snow, thunderstorms and wind.

The interactive map on the new federal web portal can display a range of information about natural hazards in Switzerland swissinfo.ch

Previously, people looking for hazard information had to check numerous sites separately.

Now, information is coordinated and provided in a single place through a joint project of the Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology, the Federal Office for the Environment, the Institute for Snow and Landscape Research, the Swiss Seismological Service and the Federal Office for Civil Protection.

Visitors to the site can search for a particular location by name or on a map of Switzerland, then choose a hazard to find out how high the level of danger is.

General recommendations for how to act in dangerous situations are provided on the site, one version of which has been optimised for mobile devices.

According to Bruno Oberle, Director of the Federal Office for the Environment, “people can only act responsibly on an individual level and thus avoid or reduce damage if they are well informed”.