Wondering why you didn't get Google's earthquake alert?

A series of earthquakes hit Nepal in the wee hours of the morning today and the tremors were felt in a number of Indian cities including Delhi-NCR. According to news reports, multiple houses sustained some damage and at least six people have been killed as of now.

Following the occurrence, #Earthquake was trending all over social media platforms, some Indians were wondering why they didn't receive Google's earthquake alert which Sundar Pichai referred to last month.

For context, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai shared a screenshot of an Android alert that he received right before an earthquake struck California. “The alert came just before, felt like a long one, hope everyone is ok." Pichai tweeted.


Following the incident, people from around the world were expecting to receive earthquake alerts, but Android users were left wondering why they did not receive the alert last night.

If you're one of these Android users, here's why you didn't receive an earthquake alert.

What is Google earthquake alert feature and why Indians didn’t receive it

Earthquake detection and early alerts feature was rolled out by Google around 2 years ago. The tech giant collaborated with the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and California Governor's Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) to send these earthquake alerts, powered by ShakeAlert. These alerts were sent directly to Android devices in California. The ShakeAlert system uses signals from more than 700 seismometers installed across the state by USGS, Cal OES, University of California Berkeley, and the California Institute of Technology.

The alert system was of considerable effect because a few seconds of warning can make a world of difference in giving you time to drop, cover, and hold on before the shaking arrives. Since installing a ground network of these sensitive seismometers is not feasible in all the impacted areas around the world, it becomes nearly impossible to send these alerts ahead of any earthquake. Due to this, the feature is currently limited to certain regions and Indian sub-continent does not have Google’s earthquake alert system yet.

It is worth noting that your Android phone can be part of the Android Earthquake Alerts System, wherever you live in the world. This means your Android phone can be a mini seismometer, joining millions of other Android phones out there to form the world’s largest earthquake detection network.

All smartphones come with tiny accelerometers that can sense signals that indicate an earthquake might be happening. If the phone detects something that it thinks may be an earthquake, it sends a signal to the earthquake detection server, along with a coarse location of where the shaking occurred. The server then combines information from many phones to figure out if an earthquake is happening.

This technology shares a fast, accurate view of the impacted area on Google Search. When you look up “earthquake” or “earthquake near me,” you’ll find relevant results for your area, along with helpful resources on what to do after an earthquake.