Latest news with #southeastTurkey
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
Google failed to warn 10 million of Turkey earthquake
Google has admitted its earthquake early warning system failed to accurately alert people during Turkey's deadly quake of 2023. Ten million people within 98 miles of the epicentre could have been sent Google's highest level alert - giving up to 35 seconds of warning to find safety. Instead, only 469 "Take Action" warnings were sent out for the first 7.8 magnitude quake. Google told the BBC half a million people were sent a lower level warning, which is designed for "light shaking", and does not alert users in the same prominent way. The tech giant previously told the BBC the system had "performed well". The system works on Android devices, which make up more than 70% of the phones in Turkey. More than 55,000 people died when two major earthquakes hit south-east Turkey on 6 February 2023, more than 100,000 were injured. Many were asleep in buildings that collapsed around them when the tremors hit. Google's early warning system was in place and live on the day of the quakes – however it underestimated how strong the earthquakes were. "We continue to improve the system based on what we learn in each earthquake", a Google spokesperson said. How it works Google's system, named Android Earthquake Alerts (AEA), is able to detect shaking from a vast number of mobile phones that use the Android operating system. Because earthquakes move relatively slowly through the earth, a warning can then be sent out. Google's most serious warning is called "Take Action", which sets off a loud alarm on a user's phone - overriding a Do Not Disturb setting - and covering their screen. This is the warning that is supposed to be sent to people when stronger shaking is detected that could threaten human life. AEA also has a less serious "Be Aware" warning, designed to inform users of potential lighter shaking - a warning that does not override a device on Do Not Disturb. The Take Action alert was especially important in Turkey due to the catastrophic shaking and because the first earthquake struck at 04:17, when many users would have been asleep. Only the more serious alert would have woken them. In the months after the earthquake the BBC wanted to speak to users who had been given this warning - initially with aims to showcase the effectiveness of the technology. But despite speaking to people in towns and cities across the zone impacted by the earthquake, over a period of months, we couldn't find anyone who had received a more serious Take Action notification before the quake struck. We published our findings later that year. 'Limitations' Google researchers have written in the Science journal details of what went wrong, citing "limitations to the detection algorithms". For the first earthquake, the system estimated the shaking at between 4.5 and 4.9 on the moment magnitude scale (MMS) when it was actually a 7.8. A second large earthquake later that day was also underestimated, with the system this time sending Take Action alerts to 8,158 phones and Be Aware alerts to just under four million users. After the earthquake Google's researchers changed the algorithm, and simulated the first earthquake again. This time, the system generated 10 million Take Action alerts to those at most risk – and a further 67 million Be Aware alerts to those living further away from the epicentre "Every earthquake early warning system grapples with the same challenge - tuning algorithms for large magnitude events," Google told the BBC. But Elizabeth Reddy, assistant professor at Colorado School of Mines, says it is concerning it took more than two years to get this information. "I'm really frustrated that it took so long," she said "We're not talking about a little event - people died - and we didn't see a performance of this warning in the way we would like." Google says the system is supposed to be supplementary and is not a replacement for national systems. However some scientists worry countries are placing too much faith in tech that has not been fully tested. "I think being very transparent about how well it works is absolutely critical," Harold Tobin, director of the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network, told the BBC. "Would some places make the calculation that Google's doing it, so we don't have to?" Google researchers say post-event analysis has better improved the system - and AEA has pushed out alerts in 98 countries. The BBC has asked Google how AEA performed during the 2025 earthquake in Myanmar, but has yet to receive a response. How a grieving mother exposed the truth of Turkey's deadly earthquake Beverley man remembers family lost in Turkey quake Sign up for our Tech Decoded newsletter to follow the world's top tech stories and trends. Outside the UK? Sign up here.
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Kurdish PKK militants announce decision to dissolve after decades of conflict with Turkey
The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) said on Monday it would dissolve itself, according to media close to the militant separatist group, in what would be a historic move after decades of conflict with Turkey that have killed tens of thousands of people. 'The 12th Congress of the PKK decided to dissolve the organizational structure of the PKK and to end the armed struggle method,' the group said in a statement, according to the pro-Kurdish news outlet Firat News Agency. It added that the 'practical process' of dissolution would be managed by their imprisoned leader, Abdullah Ocalan, and that they have 'ended the work carried out under the name of the PKK.' For almost five decades, Turkey has been at war with the PKK, founded by Ocalan in 1978. Much of the fighting has focused on the group's desire to establish an independent Kurdish state in the country's southeast. But in recent years the group has called for more autonomy within Turkey instead. In March, the PKK declared an immediate ceasefire after Ocalan called on fighters to lay down their arms and dissolve the group.
RNZ News
12-05-2025
- Politics
- RNZ News
Explainer: Key facts on Kurdish PKK that has ended its insurgency in Turkey
Supporters react after the jailed leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) Abdullah Ocalan, 75, called on the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) to disarm and dissolve itself in Diyarbakir, southeastern Turkey, on 27 February 2025. Photo: Ilyas Akengin / AFP Explainer - The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group, which has formally dissolved itself according to a report by a news agency close to the group on Monday, has battled the Turkish state for more than four decades. In February, Abdullah Ocalan, the PKK's founder, who is jailed in Turkey, appealed for it to disarm and dissolve. The decision opens the door to ending a conflict that has ravaged southeastern Turkey, and will also have significant implications for Syria and Iraq. Here are details about the PKK: The PKK is a militant group founded by Ocalan in southeast Turkey in 1978 with an ideology based on Marxist-Leninist ideas. The PKK launched its insurgency against Turkey in 1984 with the aim of creating an independent Kurdish state. It later moderated its goals to seeking greater Kurdish rights and limited autonomy in southeast Turkey. More than 40,000 people have been killed in the conflict, most of them militants. Much of the fighting was focused in rural areas of mainly Kurdish southeast Turkey, but the group also conducted attacks in urban areas, including Ankara and Istanbul. The PKK is listed as a terrorist organisation by Ankara, the United States, the European Union and some other countries. The PKK operated in Syria until 1998, when Ocalan had to flee amid growing Turkish pressure. He was captured by Turkish special forces several months later in Kenya and sentenced to death by a Turkish court in 1999. The sentence was commuted to life imprisonment in October 2002 after Turkey abolished the death penalty, and he is still imprisoned on an island near Istanbul. Fighting dwindled after Ocalan's capture, which led to the withdrawal of rebel fighters from Turkey. After a flare-up in violence, Turkey and the PKK became involved in peace talks from late 2012. That process collapsed in July 2015, unleashing the bloodiest period of the conflict and resulting in extensive destruction in some urban areas of southeast Turkey. In October of 2024, Devlet Bahceli, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader and President Tayyip Erdogan's political ally, shocked Ankara when he suggested Ocalan could be released if he announced an end to his group's insurgency. Erdogan's ruling AKP backed the proposal, and leaders of the opposition pro-Kurdish DEM party, which seeks greater Kurdish rights and autonomy, have held talks with Ocalan at his prison. The PKK declared an immediate ceasefire following the call and said it was ready to convene a congress, as Ocalan urged, but the necessary security conditions should be established for him to "personally direct and run" it. Supporters display a poster depicting the jailed leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) Abdullah Ocalan, 75, after he called on the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) to disarm and dissolve itself. Photo: Yasin Akgul / AFP In recent years, the conflict shifted to neighbouring northern Iraq, where the PKK has mountain bases and Turkey has dozens of outposts. Ankara has launched operations against the militants there, including air strikes with warplanes and combat drones, which Baghdad has said violates its sovereignty. Yet Iraq and Turkey had agreed to boost anti-PKK cooperation, and Baghdad labelled it a banned organisation for the first time. Turkey also targets the YPG militia in Syria, regarding it as a PKK affiliate, and has conducted cross-border operations alongside allied Syrian forces to push it back from its border. However, the YPG spearheads the SDF, the primary ally of the US-led coalition against the Islamic State. Washington's support for the SDF has been a source of US-Turkey tension for years. The ouster in December of former Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, whom Ankara long opposed, backing Syrian rebels, bolstered Turkey's position and influence there. It called for the YPG to be disbanded and its leaders expelled from Syria, and threatened a Turkish military operation to "crush" the group if its demands were not met. Turkish, US, Syrian and Kurdish officials have sought an agreement on the future of the Syrian Kurdish fighters. - Reuters
CNN
12-05-2025
- Politics
- CNN
Kurdish PKK militant separatist group announces decision to dissolve after decades of conflict with Turkey
The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) said on Monday it would dissolve itself, according to media close to the militant separatist group, in what would be a historic move after decades of conflict with Turkey that have killed tens of thousands of people. 'The 12th Congress of the PKK decided to dissolve the organizational structure of the PKK and to end the armed struggle method,' the group said in a statement, according to the pro-Kurdish news outlet Firat News Agency. It added that the 'practical process' of dissolution would be managed by their imprisoned leader, Abdullah Ocalan, and that they have 'ended the work carried out under the name of the PKK.' For almost five decades, Turkey has been at war with the PKK, founded by Ocalan in 1978. Much of the fighting has focused on the group's desire to establish an independent Kurdish state in the country's southeast. But in recent years the group has called for more autonomy within Turkey instead. In March, the PKK declared an immediate ceasefire after Ocalan called on fighters to lay down their arms and dissolve the group.
CNN
12-05-2025
- Politics
- CNN
Kurdish PKK militant separatist group announces decision to dissolve after decades of conflict with Turkey
The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) said on Monday it would dissolve itself, according to media close to the militant separatist group, in what would be a historic move after decades of conflict with Turkey that have killed tens of thousands of people. 'The 12th Congress of the PKK decided to dissolve the organizational structure of the PKK and to end the armed struggle method,' the group said in a statement, according to the pro-Kurdish news outlet Firat News Agency. It added that the 'practical process' of dissolution would be managed by their imprisoned leader, Abdullah Ocalan, and that they have 'ended the work carried out under the name of the PKK.' For almost five decades, Turkey has been at war with the PKK, founded by Ocalan in 1978. Much of the fighting has focused on the group's desire to establish an independent Kurdish state in the country's southeast. But in recent years the group has called for more autonomy within Turkey instead. In March, the PKK declared an immediate ceasefire after Ocalan called on fighters to lay down their arms and dissolve the group.
