Elementary schoolchildren across Japan take part in monthly earthquake drills. They learn to get under their desk and hold onto its legs until the tremors stop. Some youngsters are given disaster prevention hoods, which can cushion fragile heads from falling objects. Multistory schools even have chutes for children to slide down to safety.

Many countries, including the US, have emergency warning systems that can override radio and TV broadcasts with vital public information. But Japan has gone a stage further with its Earthquake Early Warning System. Using the latest technology, it can predict a major tremor up to 50 seconds before it happens. The warnings are broadcast instantaneously, as every second counts when saving lives.

In Switzerland, all residential buildings built since 1963 are required to have a nuclear bunker. The shelter must be able to withstand a blast from a 12-megaton explosion at a 700-meter distance. In Singapore, one room in most state-built flats is reinforced to serve as a bomb shelter - although not nuclear-proof. In 2012, the government rejected calls to drop the requirement.

The 2004 Asian earthquake and tsunami took the world by surprise. The first major tidal wave in the Indian Ocean in 600 years killed 250,000 people. The Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning System, which was set up following the disaster, has already saved lives in subsequent emergencies. In Thailand and Sri Lanka, new signs point residents towards higher ground in the event of another killer wave.

Most large cities hold regular terror drills to allow emergency services to prepare for a real attack. But what happens if a rural area is targeted? In 2011, Norwegian authorities were ridiculed for taking more than an hour to reach Utoya island, where Anders Breivik shot dead 69 people. But subsequent plans to station fast-response helicopters around the country have been scaled down, over costs.

Over the past decade, growing fears about possible flu pandemics prompted several countries, including Germany and the US, to stockpile medicine. In 2009, billions of euros were spent to build up reserves of the drug Tamiflu, only for its effectiveness against Swine Flu to be later questioned. Critics also warned that many doses could never be used as they had already expired.

The survivalist movement, where people actively prepare for emergencies, began in the 1930s. But the internet and the 2007/8 financial crisis helped speed up the global spread of its often apocolyptic warnings. Preppers, as they're known, prioritize worst-case scenarios and then work out ways to survive these threats. Pole Adolf Kudlinski collects tools and supplies for his prep farm (pictured).

Belgium, the Netherlands and the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia are stockpiling iodine tablets in case of a radiation leak. Belgium has admitted its ageing nuclear reactors, near the German border, are to remain in service until 2025, despite growing safety concerns. After the Brussels attacks, fears are mounting that "Islamic State" (IS) may be planning to build a so-called dirty bomb.

Smartphone apps and text messages are now being used to deliver emergency information to the public in several disaster-prone countries, including India and The Philippines. In the US, the Wireless Emergency Alert system can deliver details about national threats, news of local disasters like tornadoes, earthquakes and hurricanes, and alerts about abducted children. Author: Nik Martin