The earthquake alert that disrupted numerous mobile phones in Cuba this Tuesday was not accompanied by any recorded earthquake in the country. So far, it has not been determined what exactly triggered the activation of the notifications.
The official media Cubadebate reported that the National Center for Seismological Research (CENAIS) confirmed that its network of stations did not detect any seismic events during the afternoon of August 18.
Dr. Enrique Arango, head of Research at the agency, stated that the notification received on the devices did not correspond to an earthquake registered by the Cuban seismic network.
The question that remains to be clarified is why numerous phones displayed an earthquake warning when the CENAIS network did not record any seismic event.
So far, no definitive cause has been provided. Cubadebate suggested that the operation of the Android Earthquake Alert System could be a possible explanation.
According to the official portal, this mechanism uses the accelerometers in phones to detect movements that may have characteristics similar to an earthquake. When numerous devices register similar signals, it can estimate that a seismic event is occurring and issue a warning to users in a specific area.
According to the explanation published by Cubadebate, automatic detection alone does not constitute confirmation of an earthquake.
The medium indicates that, under certain circumstances, movements that do not have a seismic origin can be interpreted by the system as signals consistent with an earthquake, and that errors can also occur in estimating the location or magnitude of the supposed event.
For its part, Google explains that Android phones can contribute to earthquake detection and that the system uses the approximate location of the devices to determine which should receive an alert in the event of a possible seismic occurrence.
The company warns that estimates regarding the magnitude and intensity may contain errors and notes that, at times, a user may receive an alert without actually feeling an earthquake.
In addition, the notifications are enabled by default and can be disabled from the Security and Emergency settings of the device. In order to receive them, it is necessary to have a Wi-Fi connection or mobile data.
Google includes Cuba among the countries where the Android Earthquake Alert System is active.
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