Report: Android’s earthquake warnings failed during devastating Turkey quake in February

Ben Schoon | Jul 28 2023 - 8:49 am PT

Google has implemented earthquake notifications within Android for the past few years and they’ve worked well in many cases, but those precious few seconds of warning apparently failed ahead of the devastating earthquake in Turkey early this year.

The BBC reports that when Turkey was hit by a 7.8 earthquake in February 2023, Android’s earthquake warning system, which launched globally in 2021, failed to send notifications for the initial tremors, instead only sending warnings for some of the later aftershocks. The report cites hundreds of people interviewed in Turkey regarding the quake, none of whom said they received a warning from Google on their Android phones.

Turkey’s smartphone market is comprised of nearly 80% Android phones.

Android users in the country who were interviewed claim that alerts simply didn’t arrive in this case.

Google, however, does say that the system worked correctly. Micah Berman, the product lead on Android’s earthquake alerts, says that the company is “confident that this system fired and sent alerts” before the first, biggest quake. BBC says that Google provided no evidence to back up the claim besides citing social media posts. On contacting those who posted about the warning, only one user was able to confirm they got an alert before the first quake, with others who posted turned out to be referencing later quakes they received alerts for.

Berman explained that the “most likely explanation” was that users didn’t see the notifications given the impact of that initial quake, further adding:

During a devastating earthquake event, numerous factors can affect whether users receive, notice, or act on a supplemental alert – including the specific characteristics of the earthquake and the availability of internet connectivity.

The February earthquake in Turkey was one of the most devastating in recent memory, with nearly 60,000 deaths, many of which came from buildings collapsing.

Google’s system, which uses the sensors in Android phones to detect earthquakes before their effects can be felt, often provides a few seconds of warning before a quake begins, which can provide those in the area with just a little bit of time to prepare for the impact. Following this case, experts are calling on Google to be more transparent on “how it works and how well it works.”