Home / FAQ
Frequently asked questions
How Zero Containment works, where its data comes from and how to use it.
What is Zero Containment?
Zero Containment is a free live map of emergencies and global signals. It brings together earthquakes, wildfires, hurricanes, floods, volcanoes, tsunami bulletins, severe weather and civil alerts, disease outbreaks, internet outages, military aircraft, GPS interference, shipping chokepoints, markets and breaking news from official agencies and newsrooms worldwide.
Where does the data come from?
From official public feeds including USGS and EMSC (earthquakes), NOAA and the National Weather Service, the National Hurricane Center and tsunami warning centers, NASA EONET and NASA satellite fire detections, GDACS, FEMA, NIFC and CAL FIRE, Environment Canada, Australian state emergency services, WHO, IODA, plus the GDELT global news index. The About page lists every source.
How often is it updated?
Continuously. Earthquakes stream in live, and most other feeds refresh every 1 to 10 minutes. Each source shows when it last updated.
Is Zero Containment free?
Yes. It is free to use with no sign-up.
Is Zero Containment an official warning system?
No. It is an independent aggregator of public data. Feeds can be delayed or incomplete. Always follow official warnings and local authorities, and call your local emergency number if you are in danger.
Can I see what is happening near me?
Yes. Zero Containment estimates your area from your connection, or uses your precise location if you allow it, and shows alerts, nearby events, local weather and the local emergency number.
Can I track my own locations?
Yes. Add sites such as offices, suppliers or family homes by clicking the map or uploading a CSV or GeoJSON file. You get an alert when anything moderate or worse happens within your chosen radius, plus a response checklist and an exportable incident report.
What do SEV-1 to SEV-4 mean?
Each agency's scale is mapped to four levels: SEV-1 extreme, SEV-2 severe, SEV-3 moderate and SEV-4 minor. Earthquakes use magnitude and the USGS PAGER alert; weather alerts use the issuer's severity; wildfires use size and containment; cyclones use wind speed.
How do I find the emergency number for a country?
Open the Emergency numbers page for a list of more than 100 countries, or click any place on the live map to see its emergency number.
Can I share an event?
Yes. Every event has a Share button that creates a link straight to that event on the map.