Google admits that he failed to alert a 10 million earthquake in Turkey

Google acknowledged that his early earthquake warning system failed to accurately warn people during Turkey’s deadly earthquake of 2023.

Ten million people within 98 miles of the epicenter could be sent a signal for the highest level of Google – refusing up to 35 seconds of warning to find safety.

Instead, only 469 warnings were sent to “take” for the first earthquake of 7.8 magnitude.

Google told the BBC, half a million people, a lower level warning has been sent, which is intended for “light shaking” and does not warn users in the same prominent way.

The technical giant told the BBC earlier that the system was “performed well”.

The system operates on Android devices that make up more than 70% of phones in Turkey.

More than 55,000 people died when two major earthquakes hit southeastern Turkey on February 6, 2023, over 100,000 were injured. Many fell asleep in buildings that collapsed around them when the tremor struck.

Google’s early warning system was present and lived on earthquakes – but it underestimated how strong earthquakes were.

“We continue to improve the system based on what we learn in every earthquake,” a Google spokesman said.

The Google system, called Android Alerts Alerts (AEA), is able to detect shaking from a huge number of mobile phones using the Android operating system.

As earthquakes move relatively slowly through the ground, a warning can then be sent.

Google’s most serious warning is called “Get Actions”, which puts a strong alarm on the user’s phone – canceling the setting that does not break the setting – and covers their screen.

This is the warning that must be sent to people when a more shaking is found, which can endanger human life.

AEA also has less serious “be aware” warning designed to inform users of a potentially easier shaking -a warning that does not cancel a device does not violate.

The action signal was particularly important in Turkey due to the catastrophic shaking and because the first earthquake hit at 04:17, when many users would sleep. Only the more serious signal would wake them up.

In the months after the earthquake, the BBC wanted to talk to users who received this warning – initially to show the effectiveness of technology.

But although we talked to people in cities throughout the area affected by the earthquake for a period of months, we could not find someone who received a more serious notice of action before struck in the earthquake. We published our discoveries later that year.

Google researchers have written in scientific magazines details about what has been confused, citing “restrictions on detection algorithms”.

For the first earthquake, the system evaluated the shaking between 4.5 and 4.9 on the scale of the moment (MMS), when it was actually 7.8.

A second major earthquake later, the same day was also undervalued, with the system sending alert to 8,158 phones this time and to be aware of warnings for just under four million users.

After the earthquake, Google researchers changed the algorithm and again simulated the first earthquake.

This time the system generates 10 million to take action for those who are the most risky -and another 67 million signals for those who live further than the epicenter

“Every early earthquake warning system is fighting the same challenge – big magnitude events algorithms,” Google told the BBC.

But Elizabeth said, an assistant at the Colorado Mino School, says it was necessary that it took more than two years to obtain this information.

“I’m really disappointed it took so long,” she said

“We’re not talking about a small event – people died – and we didn’t see the implementation of this warning the way we would like.”

Google says the system is supposed to be additional and not a substitute for national systems.

However, some scientists worry the countries, putting too much faith in technologies that have not been fully tested.

“I think that being very transparent about how well it works is absolutely critical,” Harold Tobin, director of the Pacific Northwestern seismic network, told the BBC.

“Will some places do the calculation that Google does so, so it is not necessary?”

Google researchers say the analysis after the event has improved the system better – and AEA has pushed signals in 98 countries.

BBC asked Google how AEA had performed during the 2025 earthquake in Myanmar, but had not yet received an answer.