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Google Android Earthquake Alerts System Reportedly Underestimated Kahramanmaraş Earthquake and Failed to Send Urgent Warnings to Millions

6 news reports Snapshot 7 Sep 2026
On this page 6 sections

In brief

An AI system built by Google and Earthquake Early Warning System Developers and deployed by Google and Earthquake Early Warning System Deployers allegedly harmed Public Safety, People Exposed To Earthquake Hazards and 5 others.

Risk domain
Not classified
Occurred
Coverage
6 reportsJul 2023 - Jul 2025

What happened

During the February 6, 2023 Kahramanmaraş earthquake sequence, Google's Android Earthquake Alerts system reportedly estimated the initial magnitude-7.8 earthquake at only magnitude 4.5–4.9. Just 469 users reportedly received its highest-level "Take Action" warning, while approximately 500,000 received lower-level notices; researchers later estimated that roughly 10 million people could have received urgent warnings providing up to 35 seconds to seek safety.

Laws on record for this risk area

No instrument on record yet covers this risk area where it happened. See the open queue.

Matched from the record's risk category and country to the instruments in effect recorded here: a law listed covers the area, which is not a finding that it applies to this incident. A reviewer can correct the match in the repository (data/external/incident_overrides.yaml).

News reports (6)

Titles link to the original publisher; report text is not reproduced here.

  1. Google alert failed to warn people of Turkey earthquake
    bbc.com · James Clayton, Ben Derico, Anna Foster
  2. BBC: Google Alerts deprem bildirim sistemi Kahramanmaraş merkezli depremlerde devreye girmedi
    haberturk.com · Anadolu Agency
  3. Google alert failed to warn people of Turkey earthquake: report
    turkishminute.com · Turkish Minute
  4. Google'dan Kahramanmaraş depremi itirafı: 10 milyon kişiye uyarı gönderilmedi
    haberturk.com · BBC
  5. Google'dan 'Maraş depremi' itirafı: Yarım milyon kişiye yanlış bildirim gitti
    gazeteoksijen.com · Oksijen
  6. Google admits its alert system failed to accurately warn people in Turkey's 2023 quake
    androidcentral.com · Nandika Ravi

Who was involved

Alleged harmed party
Public Safety, People Exposed To Earthquake Hazards, General Public Of Turkey, General Public, Android Users In Earthquake Affected Areas Of Turkey, Android Users In Earthquake Affected Areas, Android Users

Classification (MIT AI Risk Repository taxonomy)

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Source record: incident #1546 on the AI Incident Database · all 6 reports