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Google has admitted that its Android Earthquake Alerts system failed to alert millions of people ahead of the devastating earthquake that struck Turkey in February 2023. Despite having the warning system live at the time, only a fraction of those at risk received the most urgent alerts.
According to a BBC report, more than 10 million people were within range to get Google’s highest-level “Take Action” alert, which would have given up to 35 seconds of advance warning. But only 469 users actually received that alert. Another half a million received a much milder “Be Aware” notification, which isn’t loud, urgent, or visible enough to wake people, a crucial failure since the quake struck at 4:17 a.m. when most were asleep.
Over 55,000 people died, and more than 100,000 were injured in the back-to-back quakes that hit southeastern Turkey. Most people had no warning before their buildings collapsed.
Google says the system underestimated the intensity of the quake due to flaws in its detection algorithm. It wrongly estimated the first earthquake’s magnitude to be between 4.5 and 4.9 — far lower than the actual 7.8.
The company has since improved the algorithm. In tests using the updated version, it says the system would now have sent 10 million urgent alerts and 67 million lower-level ones.
While Google says its system is meant to support — not replace — national warning systems, experts warn against relying too much on unproven tech. Some scientists are also frustrated it took over two years for Google to acknowledge the issue.
