Why Google's Android earthquake alert failed to detect Delhi's tremors

American tech giant Google had an ideal opportunity to test its new Android earthquake alert system in India that was launched last week. Strong tremors were also felt in portions of north India, including Delhi-NCR, after multiple earthquakes were reported in Nepal at around 2.30 pm IST. Although the alert should have beeped, no one’s Android phone received any notification. Here’s why didn’t Google inform users of the earthquake. Also read: Would you take life advice from AI? Google thinks so Why did the system not work? The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and the National Centre for Seismology (NCS), both part of the Ministry of Earth Sciences, worked with Google to launch the Android Earthquake Alerts System in India on 27 September. However, the firm stated in its release blog that all Android 5+ users will have the facility “during the coming week,” suggesting a phased rollout. Consequently, it is likely that the bulk of Android users in the country still do not have access to this feature. The latest Android smartphone’s Emergency settings have a link to the earthquake alert, according to News18. The feature is activated by default and there is also a brief explanation of why it cannot alert you about an earthquake. It says in this region, i.e. India, the alerts aren’t supported and aren’t available. [caption id=“attachment_13201292” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] By partnering with the NDMA, Google hopes to support government initiatives to deliver timely earthquake alerts and safety information. News18[/caption] The limitations of the newly available service, such as its inability to identify all earthquakes and errors in its estimations of the magnitude and shaking strength, are also addressed by Google. Considering this, the failure to send the notice can be attributed to the feature rollout appearing to be happening gradually and could take weeks to become operational nationwide. Also read: Thirsty AI: Microsoft majorly disrupted US city’s water supply to develop ChatGPT, Bard, causing a crisis How does the system work? The feature is available to Android users who have handsets running Android 5 or other latest versions. Each Android smartphone, according to Hindustan Times, is equipped with a tiny accelerometer that may work as a mini-seismometer. A phone can sense the beginnings of an earthquake when it is plugged in and charging; if multiple phones notice the same shaking, the alerts system uses this information to estimate that an earthquake is occurring and to measure the event’s characteristics (epicentre and magnitude). Android phones in the area are reportedly sent alerts in advance. According to Google, the notifications are now also available in regional languages in India. However, in order to use this feature, a user must have location settings and Android Earthquake Alerts ON, as well as Wi-Fi and/or cellular data connectivity. Additionally, you have the option to turn off these alerts. The company also has a demo of how the notification will appear on cellphone screens, however, it appears that the implementation is still not complete. Moreover, users will also get relevant details to keep them safe when they search for things like “Earthquake near me.” By partnering with the NDMA, Google hopes to support government initiatives to deliver timely earthquake alerts and safety information. The two have previously worked together to provide consumers with safety information about natural catastrophes like floods and cyclones through Google Search and Maps. Also read: Cooking Up: Google’s new Bard AI for Gmail is hallucinating and imaging emails that never existed Nepal earthquake Strong tremors were felt in the National Capital after several earthquakes struck Nepal on Tuesday — quakes with magnitudes 4.6 and 6.2 that occurred within 25 minutes of one another, a third with a magnitude of 3.8 that occurred 15 minutes later, and a fourth with a magnitude of 3.1 that occurred at 3:19 IST. According to NDTV, the first quake was reported at 2.25 pm. Arunachal Pradesh also witnessed a 5.2 magnitude earthquake at 3:27 PM IST, and Uttarakhand experienced a 3.3 magnitude disturbance minutes later, according to the National Centre for Seismology. The epicentre of the strongest earthquake was 284 kilometres north of Lucknow and 206 kilometres southeast of Joshimath in Uttarakhand. With inputs from agencies