Google failed to warn 10 million before deadly Turkey earthquake that killed over 55,000 people

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.