Google failed to warn 10 million of Turkey earthquake

By Admin

28 Jul, 2025

When two devastating earthquakes struck south-east Turkey on February 6, 2023, claiming more than 55,000 lives and injuring over 100,000, millions were caught off guard despite the presence of an advanced alert system designed to warn them. Google has now admitted that its Android Earthquake Alerts (AEA) system, which was live and operational at the time, failed to properly warn up to 10 million people within 98 miles of the quake’s epicentre.

A Missed Opportunity to Save Lives

The first earthquake, registering a massive 7.8 on the moment magnitude scale (MMS), struck at 04:17 local time when most people were asleep in buildings that ultimately collapsed around them. This was precisely the kind of moment when Google's highest-level alert, the "Take Action" warning, was designed to be life-saving. This alert overrides "Do Not Disturb" settings, blasts a loud alarm, and displays a full-screen warning potentially giving up to 35 seconds of precious time to find safety.

But instead of sending this urgent signal to millions, only 469 Take Action alerts were issued. Google says that approximately half a million people received the "Be Aware" notification, which is meant for lighter shaking and doesn’t trigger the same level of urgency.

System Underestimated the Quake's Strength

The core issue, Google researchers admitted in the journal Science, was a serious underestimation of the quake’s magnitude. The detection algorithms initially rated the earthquake between 4.5 and 4.9 MMS, a far cry from the actual 7.8 magnitude. A second major quake later that day was also misjudged, though that time 8,158 Take Action alerts and nearly 4 million Be Aware alerts were sent.

In a post-quake analysis, Google re-ran the system with updated algorithms. The result? The system successfully issued 10 million Take Action and 67 million Be Aware alerts exactly the kind of mass warning that might have saved thousands if implemented on the day of the disaster.

Experts and Citizens Raise Concerns

The BBC, in a follow-up investigation, was unable to find any Turkish users who had received a Take Action alert before the first earthquake. This has raised significant concerns about the effectiveness and transparency of tech-driven public safety tools.

Experts like Elizabeth Reddy from the Colorado School of Mines voiced frustration over how long it took for these findings to surface. “We're not talking about a little event people died and we didn’t see a performance of this warning in the way we would like,” she told the BBC.

Similarly, Harold Tobin, director of the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network, warned that overreliance on private systems like Google's could be dangerous: “Would some places make the calculation that Google’s doing it, so we don’t have to?”

A Learning Curve for Big Tech

Google responded by stating that the Android Earthquake Alerts system is intended to supplement not replace national warning systems. They added, “We continue to improve the system based on what we learn in each earthquake.”

To date, AEA has been rolled out in 98 countries, and the tech giant claims significant improvements since 2023. However, as of now, Google has not responded to inquiries about how the system performed during the 2025 earthquake in Myanmar.

The Road Ahead

While Google's earthquake alert system has the potential to revolutionize early warning capabilities, the Turkey disaster highlights the risks of over-reliance on untested or underperforming technology, especially when human lives are at stake. As more countries consider integrating such tech solutions, transparency, testing, and coordination with official systems will be critical.

The question remains: Can we trust big tech with public safety in critical moments? The 2023 Turkey earthquake might just be the wake-up call that says not yet.