http://www.cracked.com/blog/why-your-br ... tragedies/
If you don't want to read the article, the long and short of it is that the human brain is wired to respond to a single individual in need differently than a large group of people in need. People have a far more emotional reaction when there is a single person they can identify with, whereas processing larger-scale tragedies is done in a more logical manner.
This applies in fiction, too. I was, for example, far more moved by "Logan" than I was by "X-Men: Apocalypse". (I know, I know, not the classiest example, but my husband and I enjoy our comic book film adaptations.) So, remember, folks: if you're writing about a large-scale tragedy and you want the readers to care, it's probably wise to make sure it has a personal effect on your protagonist, since they're the character the reader will know best.
