Android Earthquake Alerts The Complete Guide

It is a global earthquake detection and early-warning system built into Android. Its phone-based detection network turns the accelerometers already inside suitable Android phones into a distributed network of earthquake sensors.

When many stationary phones in the same area detect earthquake-like motion, the system combines their signals to estimate the earthquake and send alerts to compatible Android devices likely to experience shaking. This approach extends early warning to places without dense networks of traditional seismic instruments: by the end of 2023, Android-generated alerts were active in 98 countries.

The goal is to give people useful notice - sometimes only seconds - to move away from hazards and protect themselves before the strongest shaking arrives.[1][2][3]

1. A phone feels motion.A stationary phone's accelerometer notices motion consistent with earthquake waves.
2. It sends a signal.The phone reports acceleration data and a privacy-preserving, coarse location.
3. Many signals agree.Servers look for a time-and-place pattern that fits a real seismic source.
4. Warnings race ahead.The system estimates the event and alerts devices in the expected shaking region.

Earthquakes produce fast P-waves and slower, usually more damaging S-waves. Data can travel over communications networks much faster than either wave. That speed difference creates the warning window - particularly for people farther from the source.[2][3]

No. It detects an earthquake that has already begun. Phones near the epicenter feel the early shaking; the system then tries to warn people farther away that the waves are heading toward them. This is why people at or very near the source may have little or no advance warning.

It can range from no advance warning at all to around two minutes in favorable cases. Distance from the earthquake source is one of the biggest factors. The system needs time to detect the earthquake and estimate where shaking will occur, but once an alert is generated, the message travels much faster than the seismic waves. People close to the epicenter may already be shaking; people farther away may have tens of seconds or more.

The Science study shows how wide that range can be:

• Philippines, M6.7: Be Aware warning times ranged from a few seconds near the epicenter to about 90 seconds at 400 km. People who experienced moderate to strong shaking received anything from seconds to about a minute.
• Nepal, M5.7: sparse phone coverage near the epicenter delayed detection, leaving no warning time within roughly 50 km. Many people who experienced moderate to strong shaking farther away received 10 to 60 seconds.
• Venezuela, M7.2 and M7.5: Android warnings reached 11.4 million people, giving users from seconds to up to two minutes of notice.[18]

These examples are not a promise. Warning time also depends on the earthquake's depth and size, how the fault ruptures, the density of usable phones near the source, detection speed and network delivery.[3]

The idea began during a one-week internal Google hackathon in 2015. Marc Stogaitis laid the groundwork for a global network that could use the sensors already inside phones, then continued refining it with a larger team. The first promising field data came when the prototype detected the 2018 magnitude 7.1 Anchorage earthquake.[7]

1. October 2015

   During a one-week internal Google hackathon, Marc Stogaitis began exploring whether phone accelerometers could detect earthquakes, laying the groundwork for the Android Earthquake Alerts System.[7]

2. November 2018

   The first promising field data happened when it detected the magnitude 7.1 Anchorage earthquake.[7]

3. August 2020

   Android began distributing USGS ShakeAlert warnings in California. Phone-based detections initially improved rapid earthquake information in Google Search.[5]

4. April 2021

   Alerts generated by Android detections began rolling out in New Zealand and Greece.[2]

5. End of 2023

   The Android-detected system was active in 98 countries.[2][3]

6. September 2024

   Android's alert coverage expanded across the United States; ShakeAlert remains the source in California, Oregon and Washington.[6]

On your phone, go to:

Settings›Safety & emergency›Earthquake alerts›See a demo

Warning: it is going to be loud. Try it before an emergency, ideally when the sound will not startle someone nearby.

Tapping an alert opens an earthquake safety page. It includes a map with an early estimate of the earthquake's location and magnitude, practical post-event steps, and a warning to expect aftershocks. It can also link to additional event information and a feedback survey.[1]

By default, Be Aware respects Do Not Disturb. On devices that expose notification-channel controls, you may be able to change that behavior:

Settings›Notifications›App notifications›Google Play services›Personal Safety

Open Earthquake Early Warning Alert and Earthquake Early Warning Notification, then enable Override Do Not Disturb if your device offers it. Names and paths vary by Android version and manufacturer. Be Ready may break through Do Not Disturb; Take Action will.[1]

The peer-reviewed study and Google's July 2025 research summary report that Android-generated alerts were active in 98 countries. Because availability can change, use the Android Help Center's live country list as the source of truth.[2][4]

Yes. Alert eligibility depends on whether the system is enabled where your device is located, not whether the epicenter is inside the same border. If shaking from a nearby-country earthquake is expected to reach you, the event can still trigger an alert on your side of the border.[4]

They are separate systems that work together in California, Oregon and Washington. The USGS ShakeAlert system uses a network of ground-based seismic instruments to detect earthquakes and generate warnings. Android delivers those warnings directly to compatible devices in the affected area.

In the rest of the supported world - including other U.S. states - Android generally uses earthquake information from its own phone-based detection network. The alert experience is still part of the Android Earthquake Alerts System; what changes is the source of the earthquake information.[1][2][6]

Yes. When earthquake waves reach a populated shoreline, phones on land can provide enough measurements to detect an offshore event. The Science study found magnitude 4.5 earthquakes detected up to roughly 100 km offshore and reports that the system detects subduction-zone events tens to hundreds of kilometers offshore. Mid-ocean events far from phones are much harder or impossible for this network to detect.[3]

No. Detection monitoring is limited to suitable phones that are plugged in and stationary. Your phone is not continuously doing high-power earthquake analysis while you carry it around. It also does not need to be plugged in to receive an alert.[3][7]

In a supported region, alerts should be on by default. To check or change the setting:

Settings›Safety & emergency›Earthquake alerts

If you do not see Safety & emergency, try Location › Advanced › Earthquake alerts. You also need Wi-Fi or cellular data turned on.[4]

• Open Settings › Safety & emergency › Earthquake alerts. The screen will tell you whether alerts are enabled.
• Confirm Location is on; approximate location determines whether your device is in the expected shaking area.
• Confirm Wi-Fi or cellular data is on. The system requires a network connection.
• Make sure you have not disabled all notifications from Google Play services, including the Personal Safety earthquake channels.
• Check that you are in a supported country.

The system uses a privacy-preserving, coarse device location for alert delivery; it does not need a precise location to identify an individual user.[2][4]

There is no single accuracy number; detection, magnitude, location, start-time, shaking forecast and delivery are important metrics. The 2025 Science study provides several useful measures for the April 2021 through March 2024 evaluation period:

• 11,231 earthquakes detected, averaging 312 per month, from magnitude 1.9 up to 7.8.
• 1,279 Android-detected events generated alerts. Three were false alerts: two thunderstorms and one mass phone-notification event. The causes led to algorithm changes.
• Magnitude estimates improved: median absolute error in the first estimate fell from 0.50 to 0.25 over three years; its 90th-percentile error fell from 1.02 to 0.70.
• User feedback was strongly positive: in more than 1.5 million survey responses, 85% rated the alert "very helpful." Even among respondents who did not feel shaking, 79% rated it as very helpful.

Google's later public update reported more than 18,000 detections, alerts for more than 2,000 earthquakes and 790 million individual alerts delivered.[2][3]

An early warning system must decide while the earthquake is still unfolding. In the first few seconds, only part of the fault may have ruptured and only a small fraction of the eventual energy may have been released. The largest events can start like smaller ones.

• Wait longer, and the estimate generally improves - but every second spent waiting is one less second of warning.
• Underestimate, and people who will experience dangerous shaking may not be warned.
• Overestimate, and an unnecessarily broad or urgent alert may weaken trust.

That is why an early warning magnitude will often differ from the final value published by an official seismic agency hours or days later. Final catalogs use the complete earthquake and far more data; an alert must use the incomplete beginning.[2][3]

Yes. The study's opt-in survey is not a randomized sample, but it is unusually large: 1,555,006 responses. In addition to the 85% "very helpful" result, 92% of Take Action recipients who answered the shaking question reported strong shaking, and 28% of Take Action recipients reported Drop, Cover and Hold On - the most common action for that alert.[3]

In the United States, USGS recommends:

Drop, Cover and Hold On protects against falling objects, reduces the chance that violent back-and-forth motion will throw you down, and avoids the dangerous exterior zone where glass, masonry and facades may fall.[8][9]

Follow the plan for your building and the instructions of your local authorities. In many regions, leaving during shaking is more dangerous than sheltering because exits, stairs and the area immediately outside can be exposed to falls and debris. In other settings - particularly vulnerable masonry or concrete buildings with a very short, safe route to an open assembly area - local guidance may favor immediate evacuation from lower floors.

• Mexico: guidance reported from Mexico's Civil Protection authorities says people on the ground, first or second floor may evacuate in an orderly way when the route and assembly point are safe, while people on the third floor or above should shelter in a lower-risk interior location until shaking stops. It also stresses evaluating falling glass, trees and old facades.[15]
• Peru: INDECI guidance reported by the state news agency distinguishes a first-floor route with direct access to a safe open area from upper floors, where people should use identified internal safety zones and evacuate after motion stops.[16]

Wood-framed buildings often flex differently from older unreinforced masonry, brick or concrete buildings, but construction type alone is not enough to make a split-second decision. Learn your local guidance, identify structural and nonstructural hazards, practice your route, and decide in advance what you will do in each place you regularly occupy.

I cannot give one universal recommendation. Check what your local government and emergency-management office recommends, and have a plan for the different spaces you use. If an alert arrives, use the warning time to carry out that plan - not to begin inventing one.