Google temporarily disconnected the function of detecting earthquakes on Android in Brazil after smartphone users in San Paulo and Rio de Janeiro received false emergency notifications. According to The Verge, on February 14, the system sent a warning about an earthquake of magnitude of 5.5 points, allegedly occurring in the areas of Ubatuba and Bayshada-Santist. However, no seismic events in these regions were actually recorded.
Image source: Copilot
The Android Earthquake Alerts system, notifying the earthquakes on Android devices and launched in California in 2020, uses smartphone accelerometers as improvised seismometers. Over time, the technology was introduced in other countries, but the failure shows that it should not be fully relying on it yet.
In connection with the incident, the civil defense of San Paulo said that she had not issued any warnings and did not record earthquakes in the region. At the same time, Google has suspended the operation of the system in Brazil and the investigation of the causes of the error began.
The representative of the company Ed Fernandez confirmed the failure, saying that “Android Earthquake Alerts is an additional service using Android smartphones to quickly determine the underground jerks and early warning users, but it is not intended to replace official state systems.”
Fernandez also apologized on behalf of the company, adding that Google quickly turned off the system in Brazil and began an investigation of the cause of the error, promising to continue working on improving the algorithms in order to avoid such mistakes in the future.