2026-09-20T23:22:28.549Z
- publishedAt:
Not provided→ 2025-12-04T00:00:00.000Z
SOURCE-LINKED INTELLIGENCE
USGS ShakeAlert System Reportedly Generated False Earthquake Alert Affecting Nevada and California
On December 4, 2025, the USGS's automated ShakeAlert earthquake detection system erroneously issued a report claiming a magnitude 5.9 earthquake had struck near Dayton, Nevada. The reported false alert triggered emergency warnings on cell phones in parts of California, instructing residents to take protective action. USGS officials said no earthquake occurred and are investigating whether sensor noise or other anomalies caused the system failure.
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- recordType
- incident-report
- evidenceStatus
- reported
- region
- Global
Reported occurrence date: 2025-12-04T00:00:00.000Z
Evidence & attribution
- AI Incident Database
- AI Incident Database · 2025-12-04T00:00:00.000Z
AI Incident Database, Responsible AI Collaborative; McGregor (2021), Preventing Repeated Real World AI Failures by Cataloging Incidents. Incident-specific contributor credits are available at each citation link. Metadata adapted; article text excluded.
License: CC BY-SA 4.0
First collected: 2026-09-19T22:50:59.123Z. This is not the publication date.
Observed changes
AIIC observation times, not verified publisher revision times. Up to eight recent revisions.