Google’s “Earthquake Alerts System” on Android sent out a false alarm last night in Brazil, leading to the system being temporarily disabled.
Introduced in 2020, Google’s “Earthquake Alerts System” is powered by Android smartphones. Sensors on smartphones in an area can be used to detect the “P-wave” of a quake which generally arrives before the destructive “S-wave.” The accelerometer on modern smartphones can detect that first wave, in turn allowing for a precious few seconds of early warning before a quake hits.
The system has had its set of hits and misses since it was launched. In 2021, a quake in the Philippines was detected by the system and residents were given an early alert. However, in 2023, the system reportedly failed to send alerts during a devastating quake in Turkey, though Google says it did work correctly. In 2024, Google rolled out the system across the United States.
But, today, the system sent out a false alarm on a wide scale for the first time.
As reported by CNN Brasil (via Android Police), Android users across Brazil received an earthquake warning on their phones in the early morning around 2am local time. The notification alerted users to a possible earthquake up to 5.5 on the Richter scale.
It’s unclear what triggered the false alarm, but Google says it is investigating. In a statement the company explains:
The Android Earthquake Alert System is a complementary system that uses Android phones to quickly estimate earthquake vibrations and provide alerts to people. It is not designed to replace any other official alert system. On February 14, our system detected cell phone signals near the coast of São Paulo and triggered an earthquake alert to users in the region. We promptly disabled the alert system in Brazil and are investigating the incident. We apologize to our users for the inconvenience and remain committed to improving our tools.
Google says that it has disabled the alert system in Brazil for the time being, though it’s unclear how long it will be down.
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