Latest news with #EarthquakeAlerts
CNET
10 hours ago
- CNET
Google Revises Android Earthquake Alerts After Major Miss in Turkey
Google says it has updated its Android Earthquake Alerts System after the tool failed to deliver its most urgent warnings to millions of people during the devastating earthquakes in Turkey in 2023. The system, which turns Android phones into "mini seismometers," is designed to detect earthquakes quickly and push alerts to people nearby seconds before strong shaking hits, according to Google. But when two massive quakes struck southern Turkey and Syria in February 2023, the alerts system didn't send out its highest-level "Take Action" notifications to around 10 million people in the region, Google told the BBC. Instead, Android users received lower-level "Be Aware" notifications or nothing at all. Google didn't immediately respond to a request for further comment. The 2023 earthquakes were among the deadliest in the region's modern history, killing more than 50,000 people and displacing millions. Over 70% of phones in Turkey use the company's Android operating system. Apple's competing iOS software does not have a comparable built-in earthquake alert, relying on government warnings. Read more: How to Set Up Emergency Alerts on Your Phone Now How Google is revising its alert system In a paper published earlier this month by the journal Science, Google said it found "limitations to the detection algorithms" during the event. According to the company, the system underestimated the severity of the earthquakes and failed to trigger the top-tier warnings that tell people to take immediate cover. Google says it has since improved the detection algorithm and has resimulated the first Turkey earthquake with improved response results. How Google's alert system works Android's Earthquake Alerts System is available in more than 90 countries and uses tiny vibrations picked up by a phone's accelerometer to spot seismic activity faster than traditional monitoring stations alone. When enough phones detect shaking, Google's system estimates the quake's location, magnitude and impact zone, and then pushes alerts directly to people's screens. The idea is to buy precious seconds before strong shaking starts, hopefully providing enough time for people to drop to the ground, take cover or move to safer locations. The system has been credited with delivering early warnings during quakes in California, Greece and Japan. But the Turkey miss in 2023 highlighted the challenges of building a global warning system that relies on millions of phones and the high stakes when it gets things wrong. The earthquakes in Turkey were unusually complex, involving multiple fault ruptures and powerful aftershocks. This likely made accurate detection harder, but also underscores why timely alerts are so crucial. Read more: Tornadoes, Floods, Wildfires, Intruders: 4 Ways Your Phone Can Help in an Emergency Google says it's continuing to refine its earthquake technology and encourages Android users to keep the feature turned on. Earthquake Alerts is enabled by default on many Android phones, and you can check it under Safety & Emergency settings. With climate and seismic risks rising, mobile-based early warning systems can be a way to reach people faster than traditional sirens or broadcasts. However, Google warns the alert system is meant to complement -- not replace -- national earthquake warning systems.
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First Post
21-07-2025
- Science
- First Post
Google turns Android phones into earthquake detectors, records 11,000 tremors on crowdsourcing
The Android Earthquake Alerts system prioritises scale over precision, leveraging the widespread use of Android smartphones, which collect motion data by default unless opted out read more Follow us on Google News Google utilised motion sensors in over two billion mobile phones from 2021 to 2024 to detect earthquakes and issued automated warnings to millions across 98 countries, revealed a Science journal analysis released last week. The analysis shows that Google's system recorded over 11,000 quakes, matching the performance of traditional seismometers. Independent earthquake researchers commend the system but call for greater transparency into Google's proprietary technology before public officials rely on it. Traditional seismometer-based alert systems exist in places like Mexico, Japan, and the US west coast. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD In 2020, Google launched a crowd-sourced system using Android phones to detect early tremors. Data from its first three years, released recently, confirm its effectiveness and improvement. Google notes that annual earthquake deaths average thousands, but its mobile-based alerts have expanded access tenfold since 2019. 'It's very impressive: most countries don't have an earthquake early-warning system, and this can help provide that service,' Allen Husker, a seismologist at the California Institute of Technology, was quoted as saying by Nature. However, he seeks more access to Google's data and algorithms. Google's scientists claim they're as transparent as possible, citing privacy constraints on sharing raw phone data. They told Nature that the Science paper aims to clarify the system's operations. 'That really is the origin of this paper,' says Richard Allen, a University of California, Berkeley seismologist and Google visiting faculty. 'I hope the community will recognise that and appreciate that.' How does Google's Earthquake Alerts system work? The Android Earthquake Alerts system prioritises scale over precision, leveraging the widespread use of Android smartphones, which collect motion data by default unless opted out. Google's algorithms analyse signals, accounting for regional geological and construction variations, as well as differences in phone motion sensors. Challenges persist in detecting major earthquakes. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The system underestimated two powerful 2023 Turkey quakes, sending 4.5 million warnings. After algorithm upgrades, re-analysis showed the system could have issued urgent 'TakeAction' alerts to ten million phones. 'This shows they have been working to improve the system since 2023, with tangible positive results,' says Harold Tobin, a University of Washington seismologist.
Android Authority
18-07-2025
- Android Authority
Scientists prove Android Earthquake Alerts system actually works pretty well
Google TL;DR Google's Android Earthquake Alerts system crowdsources data from smartphone accelerometers to detect seismic activity. The system has detected over 18,000 earthquakes and alerted millions across nearly 100 countries. Users receive crucial seconds of warning, enabling them to take protective action before shaking begins. Google introduced Earthquake Alerts for Android devices back in 2020, and expanded the feature to cover all US states in September 2024. More recently, Google also expanded Android Earthquake Alerts to Wear OS smartwatches to warn you of seismic activity right on your wrist. But have you ever wondered if these alerts actually work? Do they do any good if they alert you a few seconds before an earthquake? As it turns out, crowdsourcing data from millions of Android smartphones to create the world's most extensive earthquake detection system is a pretty good idea. With the Android Earthquake Alerts system, Google turned the accelerometers in Android smartphones into a powerful, pocket-sized earthquake detection system. Over the last four years, this system has detected over 18,000 earthquakes and sent alerts to millions of people in nearly 100 countries, according to Google as well as the scientists over at (the online version of one of the world's top peer-reviewed academic journals). These preemptive alerts give people crucial moments to distance themselves from dangerous objects and positions and take cover before the earthquake hits their location. How does the Android Earthquake Alerts system work? All Android phones come with an accelerometer, which is conventionally used to detect changes in motion and orientation to provide features like auto-rotation. As it turns out, the accelerometer can also detect the ground shaking from an earthquake. This data and the user's coarse location are sent to Google's earthquake detection server, which analyzes data from many phones in the coarse location to confirm that an earthquake is happening and estimates its location and magnitude. Supplied by Google The system then sends out alerts to users. These can either be a BeAware alert for estimated light shaking or a TakeAction alert, which takes over the phone's screen and plays a loud sound for estimated stronger shaking. How effective is the Android Earthquake Alerts system? Google has said it has issued alerts for over 2,000 earthquakes, culminating in 790 million alerts sent to phones worldwide. This system has expanded the number of people with access to an Earthquake Early Warning system, going from 250 million in 2019 to over 2.5 billion in 2025. During the magnitude 6.7 earthquake in the Philippines in November 2023, Google sent out the first alert just 18.3 seconds after the quake started. People closest to the epicenter received up to 15 seconds of warning, while those farther away got up to a minute. In this instance, nearly 2.5 million people were alerted to the earthquake before they could feel the shaking! Similarly, for the magnitude 5.7 earthquake in Nepal in November 2023, the first alert was issued 15.6 seconds after the earthquake. People who experienced moderate to strong shaking had a warning time of 10 to 60 seconds, with over 10 million alerts delivered! During Turkey's magnitude 6.2 earthquake in April 2025, the first alert was issued eight seconds after the quake began. People who experienced moderate to strong shaking had a warning time of a few to 20 seconds, and over 16 million alerts were delivered. The animation below shows phones shaking as yellow dots, the yellow circle is the earthquake's faster-moving P-wave, while the red circle is the earthquake's slower, more damaging S-wave. The animation shows the time in the upper left corner too, and you can see a wave of phones detecting shaking before the yellow circle until the red circle passes by, giving people precious seconds to take cover before the tremors hit. Google has also continuously improved its magnitude estimation, with the median absolute error of the first magnitude estimate dropping from 0.5 to 0.25, making its accuracy the same or even better than traditional seismic networks. Google also surveyed over 1.5 million people, and 85% found the alerts very helpful. Even when people don't feel the shaking, they largely appreciate the warning to be alert about potential hazards. People who received a TakeAction alert commonly took action (namely 'Drop, Cover, and Hold On'), further validating the alerts' utility. Sample size: 1,555,006 responses Have you had an experience with the Android Earthquake Alerts system? What happened? Was the alert helpful, and were you able to get to safety? Please share your experience with us in the comments below! Got a tip? Talk to us! Email our staff at Email our staff at news@ . You can stay anonymous or get credit for the info, it's your choice.
