Google has admitted that during the devastating earthquakes in Kahramanmaraş, Turkey, on February 6, 2023, its Android Earthquake Alert System (AEA) failed to deliver warnings to around 10 million users.
According to a BBC report, the AEA system, developed in Silicon Valley, was active but did not work as intended during the series of powerful quakes that hit southeastern Turkey. The system should have sent the highest-level alerts to people up to 157 kilometers from the epicenter. Instead, due to incorrect magnitude estimates, it displayed weaker alerts for a 4.5–4.9 magnitude quake, while the actual earthquake was 7.7.
Because of this, millions of people were left without timely information that could have saved lives.
At the moment of the first quake, only 469 devices received the “take action” message, while about 500,000 users got a softer “light shaking” warning that did not require any immediate action.
After a second major quake the same day, the “take action” alert was sent to 8,158 devices, while 4 million users received a “be aware” notification. However, technical flaws and delays meant even these alerts were not fully effective.
In a statement, Google said that early warning systems are challenging to build and still evolving, and that they continue to improve the system with lessons learned after every major quake.
“We keep developing the system based on what we learn from each earthquake,” the company said.
Elizabeth Reddy from the Colorado School of Mines called it concerning that Google took more than two years to acknowledge the issue.
“People lost their lives, and the system did not work the way we hoped,” Reddy said.
Google now says the system has been improved and currently operates in 98 countries, including Turkey, where over 70% of smartphones use Android.
The earthquakes on February 6, 2023, struck 11 Turkish provinces, killing 53,537 people and injuring more than 107,000. A seven-day national mourning period was declared after what was described as the “disaster of the century.”
