Underground Nuclear Shelter
A visitor walks in an underground nuclear shelter built in the early 1950s in the centre of Budapest September 11, 2008. Reuters/Laszlo Balogh

Quora forum members listed several places, mostly in the southern hemisphere, as good places to be in if World War III would happen. Another alternative is to look for an underground bunker nearest you, or if you have money, have a Doomsday bunker built.

Buzz of an impending global nuclear war continues. The Arms Control Association points out that the two superpowers still deploy over 1,500 strategic warheads on hundreds of bombers and missiles which are beyond what is needed to deter a nuclear attack. Russia and the US own over 90 percent of the 15,000 plus nuclear warheads in the world as of 2016.

The situation has hiked demand for bomb-proof bunkers by 700 percent compared to 2014, says Gary Lynch of Rising S Bunkers. The bunkers are powered by Li-lon power cells and food enough to last 25 years claim to protect dwellers inside that they could be the start of a new population after the fallout dust settles in areas decimated by the bombs.

Bundesbank
Tour guide Hans-Juergen Haite stands inside the safe where West German emergency issue bank notes were held inside a Federal reserve bank (Bundesbank) bunker, prior to the bunker's official opening to the public in Cochem, Germany, March 18, 2016. Reuters/Kai Pfaffenbach

Staying inside these bunkers is not like a stint in “Survivor” as buyers of the underground homes go for luxury because of forecasts of a rough future.

Quora members listed several places with underground facilities where chances of surviving a global catastrophe is higher. The places include the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in the Arctic Svalbard archipelago; the Underground Command Post in Moscow, Russia; Pitcairn Islands in Madagascar; Perth, Australia; the north east/north west areas in the US; Latter Day Saints Church’s Granite Mountain Vault in Utah; Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado; the Pindar military facility in London, England; Mount Yamantau, Mezhgorye in Bashkortostan, Russia; and the Greenbrier in West Virginia built to house Congressional members in case of an atomic bomb launch in the US.

The New York Post adds that since all of the world’s nuclear powers are in the northern hemisphere, people are advised to stay south of the equator. But when in Australia, avoid Alice Springs which hosts a US top secret facility at Pine Gap.

Although the power of bombs to wipe out life or totally annihilate Earth remains unknown, scientists foresee that tremendous amounts of smoke from repeated atomic detonations globally could lead to the Sun’s rays being blocked from reaching the planet, resulting in a nuclear winter.

It makes building underground bunkers a wise decision. But experts point out that although World War III is inevitable, a nuclear apocalypse scenario is unlikely “as no one wants to be responsible for the first strike.”