From Emergency Response to Recovery: Multiple Impacts and Lessons Learned from 2011 Van Earthquakes

Burcak Basbug Erkan, Nuray Karanci, Sibel Kalaycıoğlu, Tolga Ozden, Idil Çalışkan, Gamze Özakşehir

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

11 Citations (Scopus)
127 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

On 23 October 2011, and then on 9 November 2011, two earthquakes struck the province of Van in eastern Turkey. One month after the first earthquake, between 25 November and 27 November 2011, a reconnaissance team from the Middle East Technical University, Disaster Management Implementation and Research Center (METU DMC) visited the region. The team focused on disaster management activities such as emergency relief, damage assessment, psychosocial support, and economic impacts. Field observations and personal interviews concluded that deficits in mitigation led to shortcomings in the response and rehabilitation operations in Van. Although search and rescue activities were evaluated as satisfactory, there were problems in the organization of support services, temporary accommodation, and delivery of basic needs. This paper presents a reconnaissance report outlining the observations of the interdisciplinary team in the field. It suggests some policies for improvement in the disaster management system in the future.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)527-540
Number of pages14
JournalEarthquake Spectra
Volume31
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Feb 2015
Externally publishedYes

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