The state-owned company acknowledges a “technical-human error,” as the scientific magazine ‘Juventud Técnica’ had anticipated
14ymedio, Havana, August 22, 2026 – Etecsa was finally forced to acknowledge that the error was its own. The false earthquake alert that caused thousands of Cubans to hurriedly leave their homes last Tuesday was generated by specialists from the company itself while they were conducting tests on the telecommunications network. The admission comes three days after the incident, when the authorities had blamed Google’s alert system and only after an investigation by the state-run magazine Juventud Técnica dismantled that explanation and followed the clues to the Island’s telecommunications monopoly.
“On the afternoon of August 18, users in several areas of the country received messages on their mobile phones with an earthquake alert,” begins the brief statement published by Etecsa. After assuring that it had launched an investigation, the company admits that “the messages were issued due to a technical-human error, generated by our specialists who were conducting tests on the telecommunications network.”
The company also says that “the corresponding analyses were carried out, measures were adopted with those responsible, and actions are being implemented to prevent similar incidents in the future.” It does not identify those responsible, specify what measures were taken, or explain how an internal test managed to become an earthquake alarm distributed to phones across much of the country. “We are aware of the concern and distress generated as a result of the error, and therefore we apologize to the population,” it concludes.
In a country where finding a foreign culprit is often considerably faster than finding a domestic solution, Google seemed to be carrying the blame for an earthquake that never existed
The episode began at around three in the afternoon on Tuesday. Thousands of Android phones suddenly emitted a shrill “earthquake alert” warning that recommended seeking shelter. In Havana, numerous residents left their homes, many of them in the middle of a blackout. Testimonies gathered at the time described elderly people going down stairs with walkers, people who came outside in their underwear, and neighbors trying to get their pets to safety. In a building in Luyanó, the pleas of an elderly woman asking not to be left to die alone could be heard.
The ground, however, had not moved. Minutes later, Civil Defense reported that the National Center for Seismological Research (Cenais) had not recorded any seismic movement. Enrique Diego Arango Arias, head of the National Seismological Service, called the alarm “completely false.”
As questions mounted, initial suspicions circulated on social media about Etecsa and a possible failed drill. Cubadebate, however, was quick to dismiss that possibility and presented Google’s earthquake alert system for Android as a possible explanation, a system that uses the accelerometers in phones to detect vibrations. Suddenly, in a country where finding a foreign culprit is often considerably faster than finding a domestic solution, Google seemed to be carrying the blame for an earthquake that never existed.
When ‘Juventud Técnica’ approached Etecsa seeking answers, the company did not accept any responsibility at the time and referred the questions to Civil Defense
The version began to fall apart when Juventud Técnica asked the multinational company directly. “These claims are incorrect. The Android Earthquake Alerts System did not detect an earthquake or send alerts in Cuba,” a Google spokesperson responded.
The magazine went further. By analyzing the format of the messages and Android’s source code, it determined that the alert was compatible with the ETWS protocol, used to transmit earthquake and tsunami warnings through Cell Broadcast. Under that system, Google is not the entity that sends the message; the public mobile network does. In Cuba, that network belongs exclusively to Etecsa. Android even distinguishes between the code intended for an actual earthquake alert and the one reserved for a test.
When Juventud Técnica approached Etecsa seeking answers, the company did not accept any responsibility at the time and referred the questions to Civil Defense. That move now leaves an additional question. Amneris Santos Hernández, head of Civil Defense’s Preparation and Communication Department, acknowledged to the publication that the agency was “exploring the use of these alerts,” although she assured that they were not yet being implemented and that the incident was under investigation.
Arango Arias pointed to the greatest danger of all: that a false alarm could happen again and, when a real one arrives, the population might stop believing it
That statement and Etecsa’s subsequent confession leave unresolved what role Civil Defense played in the tests. There is currently no public evidence that would allow anyone to say that it ordered the test or participated directly in it, but it is significant that Etecsa initially referred questions about a test that it now acknowledges was its own to that agency, and that Civil Defense admitted that it was experimenting with precisely this technology.
The damage, in any case, was not limited to a computer error. Arango Arias warned after the incident that there were still “many unanswered questions” and pointed to the greatest danger of all: that a false alarm could happen again and, when a real one arrives, the population might stop believing it.
That is the most serious consequence of those minutes of panic. An early warning system depends on an immediate response, not on citizens first having to determine whether Etecsa is conducting tests. What remains to be learned is who ordered the test, for what purpose, and how the drill managed to go much farther than the explanation.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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