Google’s Android-based earthquake detector had a false alarm
1 min read
Summary
Google has disabled its Android earthquake detection feature in Brazil after a wave of false alerts for a non-existent 5.5 magnitude quake was sent to devices across the countries São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro on Friday.
The company originally launched its earthquake detection network in California in 2020, with the system using accelerometers in Android devices to detect earthquakes.
It has since rolled out to other countries.
Following the false alert, the Civil Defense of São Paulo denied issuing any warning, and Google said the tool is not designed to replace official warning systems.
The company apologised and committed to improving the tools, while investigating the false alarm.