I can't seem to find any errors in the XML.

Can you remember:

1) which option it was (first, second or third)? It should be Benevolent, Pragmatic, Merciless.

2) Which event it was. There are a lot of events and scrolling through them, it's easy to miss

Is it possible that you accidentally selected the wrong option? Try colonizing another planet and see if it happens again.

I notice on the Earthquake event the Ideology Icon shows Cyan with 1 in circle when I select Pragmatic or Malevolent  - while this is picky perhaps the Point circle color should reflect the color of the Ideology available.  I suspect there are a couple typos in the Event Selection coding unless first colonization event and race selection make a difference.