Latest news with #Anatolia
Jordan Times
a day ago
- Climate
- Jordan Times
Turkey battles wildfires as heatwave grips Med
DIYARBAKIR, Turkey — Firefighters battled blazes across Turkey on Monday as the country sweltered in a summer heatwave across much of the Mediterranean, with wildfires leading to at least 14 deaths in the country in the past week. Around 20 villages have been evacuated, officials said, and more than 3,500 people forced to leave their homes. "We are burning up, we don't even know where to go anymore," Asmin Gezginci, 24, said while returning from a park to her home in the Kurdish-majority southeastern city of Diyarbakir. Temperatures had already soared to a record high of 50.5 degrees Celsius on Friday in Silopi, two hours from Gezginci's home. According to weather forecasts, the heatwave will continue this week with temperatures of 40C to 45C in the central Anatolia region and 45C to 50C forecast in the southeast on Tuesday. On Monday, local authorities in Diyarbakir warned residents about temperatures "four to six degrees above seasonal norms until August 2". In the city, the thermometer was already showing 45.4C at midday, an AFP journalist saw. The heatwave has exacerbated forest fires on the dry ground that have spread rapidly in windy conditions. Firefighters tackled blazes around Bursa in the northwest on Monday, the country's fourth-largest city and a major industrial centre, for the third consecutive day. Their efforts were hampered by strong winds fanning the flames, according to Agriculture and Forestry Minister Ibrahim Yumakli. Some residents used tractors to transport water tanks, while television images showed others rushing toward the blazes with bottles of water in their hands. Response 'sometimes limited' But the intensity of a fire in Karabuk in the north has diminished, and a fire in Kahramanmaras in the south is now "under control", Yumakli said. "Given the size and intensity of the fires, the state's ability to respond quickly to such disasters is sometimes limited," he acknowledged. "If there is wind, there are no planes, and it takes hours, even days, for you to take control," he said. In recent days, 19 villages had to be evacuated in the Safranbolu region in the north, and more than 3,500 people around Bursa. In a televised speech after a weekly cabinet meeting, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said 96 percent of the fires were caused by human activity such as cigarette butts and picnic fires. There were also a few cases of sabotage, he said. "Let us not forget that this is a war, a defence of our green homeland, against this insidious enemy," Erdogan said. "We are doing what is necessary, and we will continue to do so." Last week, a wildfire killed at least 10 forest workers and rescuers fighting a blaze near Eskisehir in western Turkey. A firefighter battling the flames died of a heart attack on Saturday. Three more people died Sunday in an accident involving a water tanker truck that was used to battle a blaze, Bursa authorities said. According to Erdogan, more than 3,000 fires have broken out since the beginning of summer, and authorities warn the situation will remain critical until October. A UN report on desertification worldwide estimates that 88 percent of Turkey's territory is at risk: rainfall is expected to decrease 30 percent by the end of the century, while temperatures are expected to rise by 5C to 6C compared to the averages recorded between 1961 and 1990. New fire in Greece Across the Aegean Sea in Greece, where blazes have ravaged homes and sparked evacuations across the country this summer, firefighters worked Monday to contain outbreaks after bringing dozens under control over the weekend. Even as the heat wave gripping the country began to ease, a new forest fire broke out near the university campus east of Athens, in the municipality of Zografou. According to firefighters, 65 firefighters, 20 vehicles, seven helicopters and six planes were mobilised to contain the flames. Greece has endured heatwave conditions for a week, with temperatures passing 40C in many areas. And on the Iberian Peninsula, four Spanish planes joined more than 250 Portuguese firefighters battling a blaze Monday in an isolated mountain region near their border, authorities said. The blaze in north Portugal's Viana do Castelo district was spreading in two directions and difficult to tackle because of the strong winds, civil protection chief Marco Domingues said. One firefighter has been injured. Authorities have put much of northern and southern Portugal on the highest alert for wildfires because of high temperatures and strong winds.
France 24
a day ago
- Climate
- France 24
Turkey battles wildfires as heatwave grips Med
Around 20 villages have been evacuated, officials said, and more than 3,500 people forced to leave their homes. "We are burning up, we don't even know where to go anymore," Asmin Gezginci, 24, said while returning from a park to her home in the Kurdish-majority southeastern city of Diyarbakir. Temperatures had already soared to a record high of 50.5 degrees Celsius (123 Fahrenheit) on Friday in Silopi, two hours from Gezginci's home. According to weather forecasts, the heatwave will continue this week with temperatures of 40C to 45C in the central Anatolia region and 45C to 50C forecast in the southeast on Tuesday. On Monday, local authorities in Diyarbakir warned residents about temperatures "four to six degrees above seasonal norms until August 2". In the city, the thermometer was already showing 45.4C at midday, an AFP journalist saw. The heatwave has exacerbated forest fires on the dry ground that have spread rapidly in windy conditions. Firefighters tackled blazes around Bursa in the northwest on Monday, the country's fourth-largest city and a major industrial centre, for the third consecutive day. Their efforts were hampered by strong winds fanning the flames, according to Agriculture and Forestry Minister Ibrahim Yumakli. Some residents used tractors to transport water tanks, while television images showed others rushing toward the blazes with bottles of water in their hands. Response 'sometimes limited' But the intensity of a fire in Karabuk in the north has diminished, and a fire in Kahramanmaras in the south is now "under control", Yumakli said. "Given the size and intensity of the fires, the state's ability to respond quickly to such disasters is sometimes limited," he acknowledged. "If there is wind, there are no planes, and it takes hours, even days, for you to take control," he said. In recent days, 19 villages had to be evacuated in the Safranbolu region in the north, and more than 3,500 people around Bursa. In a televised speech after a weekly cabinet meeting, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said 96 percent of the fires were caused by human activity such as cigarette butts and picnic fires. There were also a few cases of sabotage, he said. "Let us not forget that this is a war, a defence of our green homeland, against this insidious enemy," Erdogan said. "We are doing what is necessary, and we will continue to do so." Last week, a wildfire killed at least 10 forest workers and rescuers fighting a blaze near Eskisehir in western Turkey. A firefighter battling the flames died of a heart attack on Saturday. Three more people died Sunday in an accident involving a water tanker truck that was used to battle a blaze, Bursa authorities said. According to Erdogan, more than 3,000 fires have broken out since the beginning of summer, and authorities warn the situation will remain critical until October. A UN report on desertification worldwide estimates that 88 percent of Turkey's territory is at risk: rainfall is expected to decrease 30 percent by the end of the century, while temperatures are expected to rise by 5C to 6C compared to the averages recorded between 1961 and 1990. New fire in Greece Across the Aegean Sea in Greece, where blazes have ravaged homes and sparked evacuations across the country this summer, firefighters worked Monday to contain outbreaks after bringing dozens under control over the weekend. Even as the heat wave gripping the country began to ease, a new forest fire broke out near the university campus east of Athens, in the municipality of Zografou. According to firefighters, 65 firefighters, 20 vehicles, seven helicopters and six planes were mobilised to contain the flames. Greece has endured heatwave conditions for a week, with temperatures passing 40C in many areas. And on the Iberian Peninsula, four Spanish planes joined more than 250 Portuguese firefighters battling a blaze Monday in an isolated mountain region near their border, authorities said. The blaze in north Portugal's Viana do Castelo district was spreading in two directions and difficult to tackle because of the strong winds, civil protection chief Marco Domingues said. One firefighter has been injured. Authorities have put much of northern and southern Portugal on the highest alert for wildfires because of high temperatures and strong winds.
Android Authority
a day ago
- Android Authority
Google admits Android's earthquake alerts failed ahead of deadly quake
Google TL;DR Google has acknowledged that its Android Earthquake Alerts system did not work accurately during the devastating 2023 Turkey earthquakes. The system issued 500,000 lower-level 'Be Aware' notifications when it should have issued 10 million 'Take Action' alerts. Google told the BBC that every earthquake early warning system grapples with algorithm tuning challenges. Google has admitted to the BBC that its Android Earthquake Alerts (AEA) system failed to deliver timely and accurate warnings during the devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake that hit Turkey in 2023. According to the BBC's report, approximately 10 million people within 158 kilometers (98 miles) of the earthquake's epicenter could have received Google's highest-tier 'Take Action' alert, but the system only sent out 469 such warnings. Had the alerts functioned correctly, those at risk might have had up to 35 seconds of advance notice to seek safety. Instead, Google said the system issued about 500,000 lower-level 'Be Aware' notifications, which are meant for less intense shaking and do not override a phone's Do Not Disturb settings. In contrast, the stronger 'Take Action' alert is designed to wake users and prompt them about the severity of the situation, which can be critical during nighttime or early morning events like this one. Notably, Google had previously told the BBC that the system 'performed well' after a 2023 investigation into the matter. In a statement to Android Authority at the time, the company had noted the following: Our system detected both major earthquakes and many aftershocks in Turkey. 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. Users may also not see or pay attention to an alert in the middle of the night or while prioritizing personal and family safety during significant natural disasters. However, in recent findings published in Science magazine, Google admits 'limitations to the detection algorithms' caused the system to function poorly. Android Earthquake Alerts were launched in 2020 and use data from smartphone accelerometers to crowdsource seismic activity detection. Available in nearly 100 countries, the system has reportedly detected over 18,000 earthquakes and sent millions of alerts. The goal is to give people a few crucial seconds to move away from dangerous situations before tremors strike. The 2023 Turkey earthquake was one of the deadliest in recent history, claiming over 55,000 lives and injuring more than 100,000. Though Google's alert system was technically operational, it underestimated the severity of the event. What went wrong? Google According to the report, Google's earthquake warning system misjudged the intensity of the 7.8 magnitude quake as between 4.5 and 4.9. The system also underestimated a second major earthquake that struck later the same day. However, the second shock resulted in a slightly better alert response, with the system sending out around 8,158 'Take Action' notifications as well as nearly four million 'Be Aware' alerts. Following the disaster, Google's engineers revisited their detection model. When they ran a simulation using updated algorithms, the system successfully generated 10 million 'Take Action' notifications for those near the epicenter and 67 million 'Be Aware' warnings for those further away. 'Every earthquake early warning system grapples with the same challenge — tuning algorithms for large magnitude events,' a Google spokesperson told the BBC. So the lesson here is that while tools like Google's Android Earthquake Alerts (AEA) system can provide life-saving warnings and are a valuable part of modern Android smartphones, they might not always function as expected. Follow
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
Google admits its earthquake alert system failed to warn 10 million people of Turkey disaster
Google has acknowledged that its earthquake early warning system failed to send the highest-level warning to millions of people during the deadly 2023 disaster in Turkey. The Android Earthquake Alerts sent the highest-level warning – 'Take Action – to only 469 people despite over 10 million people being within 98 miles of the epicentre of the initial 7.8-magnitude quake. Around half a million people received a lower-level alert – 'Be Aware' – meant for light shaking that is not as noticeable or urgent. This alert cannot override Android phone settings like Do Not Disturb and would likely have gone unnoticed when the earthquake struck at 4.17am local time. Days after claiming its systems 'performed well', Google has now told the BBC that nearly 500,000 people in Turkey did not receive the correct alert on their phones as its warning system underestimated the earthquake. Launched in August 2020 in collaboration with the US Geological Survey, the Android Earthquake Alerts System uses phone sensors to detect earthquakes. When many devices in an area sense shaking, the system verifies the data and sends alerts, sometimes seconds before the quake hits. It issues high-level warnings for strong tremors and lower-level ones for mild shaking, helping users take quick action even in regions without official alert systems. Two powerful earthquakes, measuring magnitude 7.8 and 7.5, struck Turkey at 4.17am and 1.24pm local time on 6 February, killing more than 55,000 people, injuring over 100,000, and destroying scores of buildings and roads across 11 of Turkey's southern and southeastern provinces. The earthquakes also killed 6,000 people in neighbouring Syria. The quake was the largest to hit Turkey since 1999 and the deadliest worldwide since the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami off Indonesia, which killed around 228,000 people. An internal investigation revealed that Google's warning system significantly underestimated the earthquake's strength, initially rating it a magnitude of between 4.5 and 4.9. The second tremor later in the day also triggered inaccurate readings. During this event, AEA issued 8,158 'Take Action' alerts and nearly four million 'Be Aware' notifications. This response still fell short of expectations given the scale of the disaster. "We continue to improve the system based on what we learn in each earthquake", a Google spokesperson told the BBC. In a blog post about the alert system, Google acknowledged the challenges of maintaining a balance between speed and accuracy. 'One of the trickiest parts of an EEW system is estimating the magnitude of an earthquake in real-time. The magnitude tells us how big the earthquake is, which in turn determines how far the shaking will travel and who needs to be alerted,' it said. 'Getting this right is crucial – underestimate, and you might not warn people in danger; overestimate, and you risk sending out false alarms that erode public trust.' The Independent has reached out to Google for comment.
The Independent
a day ago
- The Independent
Google admits its earthquake alert system failed to warn 10 million people of Turkey disaster
Google has acknowledged that its earthquake early warning system failed to send the highest-level warning to millions of people during the deadly 2023 disaster in Turkey. The Android Earthquake Alerts sent the highest-level warning – ' Take Action – to only 469 people despite over 10 million people being within 98 miles of the epicentre of the initial 7.8-magnitude quake. Around half a million people received a lower-level alert – 'Be Aware' – meant for light shaking that is not as noticeable or urgent. This alert cannot override Android phone settings like Do Not Disturb and would likely have gone unnoticed when the earthquake struck at 4.17am local time. Days after claiming its systems 'performed well', Google has now told the BBC that nearly 500,000 people in Turkey did not receive the correct alert on their phones as its warning system underestimated the earthquake. Launched in August 2020 in collaboration with the US Geological Survey, the Android Earthquake Alerts System uses phone sensors to detect earthquakes. When many devices in an area sense shaking, the system verifies the data and sends alerts, sometimes seconds before the quake hits. It issues high-level warnings for strong tremors and lower-level ones for mild shaking, helping users take quick action even in regions without official alert systems. Two powerful earthquakes, measuring magnitude 7.8 and 7.5, struck Turkey at 4.17am and 1.24pm local time on 6 February, killing more than 55,000 people, injuring over 100,000, and destroying scores of buildings and roads across 11 of Turkey's southern and southeastern provinces. The earthquakes also killed 6,000 people in neighbouring Syria. The quake was the largest to hit Turkey since 1999 and the deadliest worldwide since the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami off Indonesia, which killed around 228,000 people. An internal investigation revealed that Google's warning system significantly underestimated the earthquake's strength, initially rating it a magnitude of between 4.5 and 4.9. The second tremor later in the day also triggered inaccurate readings. During this event, AEA issued 8,158 'Take Action' alerts and nearly four million 'Be Aware' notifications. This response still fell short of expectations given the scale of the disaster. "We continue to improve the system based on what we learn in each earthquake", a Google spokesperson told the BBC. In a blog post about the alert system, Google acknowledged the challenges of maintaining a balance between speed and accuracy. 'One of the trickiest parts of an EEW system is estimating the magnitude of an earthquake in real-time. The magnitude tells us how big the earthquake is, which in turn determines how far the shaking will travel and who needs to be alerted,' it said. 'Getting this right is crucial – underestimate, and you might not warn people in danger; overestimate, and you risk sending out false alarms that erode public trust.'
