Ever wonder which cities in the world are the most popular for alien attacks, superhero showdowns, giant monster rampages, cataclysmic human warfare, or zombie outbreaks? This map shows all the widespread destruction events depicted in the top 100 highest grossing films of the past 10 years (2006-2015) as listed on IMDb. The criteria for this list included:
the carnage must be shown on-screen during the course of the movie (no off-screen destruction events were included)
the destruction must be wide-spread and massive
no fantasy locations without a rough geographical equivalent in the real world were included
no real life historical destruction events were included
destruction on a global or apocalyptic scale was categorized separately
The aim of this map was to illustrate the carnage and destruction that we, as cinema patrons, pay to see for entertainment.
Danielle Brown, “Movie Mayhem: The Destruction We Pay To See” (2016)
What was it like?
“Now I cannot emphasize this enough to the people of San Francisco: You need to get out. And I mean now. And if you can’t, you need to find any means possible to drop, cover, and hold on. Because your life is gonna depend on it. God be with you.”
With this warning, Caltech seismologist Dr. Lawrence Hayes tries to save as many residents of San Francisco in the 2015 San Andreas as possible from the massive 9.6 magnitude mega-earthquake. Countless lives were lost in the chaos and destruction caused by a string of deadly earthquakes along the San Andreas fault.