Google don admit say dia Android Earthquake Alerts system no deliver correct and quick warning to millions of people before di big earthquake wey happen for Türkiye for February 2023.

For February 6, 2023, two strong earthquakes wey measure 7.7 and 7.6 magnitude kill more than 50,000 people and injure over 100,000 for Türkiye alone. Another 6,000 people die for Syria wey dey near dem. Altogether, di earthquake affect more than 14 million people.

Even though di disaster big well well and di tremor reach 11 Turkish provinces – Adana, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Elazig, Hatay, Gaziantep, Kahramanmaras, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye and Sanliurfa – Google system send di most urgent warning, “Take Action,” to only 469 people.

Almost 10 million people dey within 98 miles (160 km) from where di first earthquake happen, wey strike by 4:17 am local time. Di strongest alert wey suppose override “Do Not Disturb” setting and sound loud alarm fit give dem up to 35 seconds warning before di earthquake. But na only about half a million people receive di less urgent “Be Aware” alert wey no dey override phone settings. Google tell BBC say na wetin happen be dat.

For dat early morning time, e possible say many people no even see di alert. At first, Google talk say di system “work well.” But after dem review di matter and pressure from people, di tech company admit say di system no measure di earthquake strength well and no send di correct high-level warning.

Di Android Earthquake Alerts System (AEA), wey dem launch for 2020 with di US Geological Survey, dey use motion sensors for Android phones to detect earthquake movement. If many phones for one area dey shake, di system go check di data and send alert to people wey dey near. Di top-level “Take Action” alert na for serious earthquake wey fit kill people, while di lower-level “Be Aware” na for small tremors.

Di system dey work for almost 100 countries and e dey very important for places wey earthquake dey happen well well like Türkiye, where Android phones dey make up more than 70 percent of di mobile market.

Di internal investigation show say AEA first think say di first earthquake na between 4.5 and 4.9 magnitude, wey dey far lower than di real strength. Google researchers talk say na di limit of di detection algorithm cause am. Di second big earthquake wey happen later dat day too no get correct estimate: only 8,158 “Take Action” alerts dem send, plus about four million “Be Aware” notifications.

Google explain for blog post say e dey hard to measure earthquake strength for real-time. Dem write say, “One of di hardest part of di EEW system na to estimate di strength of earthquake as e dey happen. If you no get am correct, you fit no warn people wey dey danger; if you overestimate, you fit dey send false alarm wey go make people no trust di system again.”

After di failure, Google engineers update di algorithm and test am again with di same event. Di new system send 10 million “Take Action” alerts and 67 million “Be Aware” alerts, wey show say di result for di earthquake fit don dey very different if di update dey before.

Google add say, “We go continue to improve di system based on wetin we learn from each earthquake.”