Earthquake

Purpose: This study aimed to design a temporary housing pattern tailored to the needs of the injured after a natural disaster. Design/methodology/approach: This study had an applied objective and employed a descriptive-analytical method with an approach to survey and post-implementation evaluation. The criteria for temporary accommodation design were collected through library research and the victims’ satisfaction of these criteria was considered through field research. The criteria included socio-cultural, physical-functional and technical-structural elements. Field research was carried out in 10 villages of Heris County, East Azerbaijan, which were destroyed completely by earthquake in 2012. Field research was conducted through user-oriented procedures of questionnaires, interviews and field observations. In total, the criteria were evaluated in separate tables based on the Likert spectrum. Findings: The results indicated that the victims were dissatisfied with temporary resettlement after the earthquake in all three criteria. Research limitations/implications: The main limitation of this study was the high cost of numerous visits to villages and low willingness of their inhabitants to cooperate with interviewers and answer the questions for various reasons. Practical implications: Improvement strategies were proposed to enhance the quality temporary housing through organized interviews with the injured. Suggestions made by experts led to proposing some improvement strategies as well. Finally, the design of the temporary housing model was put forward in accordance with these solutions. Originality/value: This article initiated an innovative design of temporary housing which was tailored to the needs of those who had experienced the disaster based on their perceptions, not merely based on existing theoretical foundations.

Sustainability and resiliency analysis of cities is not completed without considering the whole system of interacting sectors. The purpose of this study is to introduce an algorithm for assessment of overall seismic resiliency increase of urban areas due to the reduction of Intra- and Interdependencies between different sectors and retrofitting infrastructures. The proposed method is versatile, and different dimensions of resiliency, i.e., social, economic, technical, physical, institutional, and security dimensions of resiliency are considered in the study. In this research, the technical dimension, i.e., the functionality of water and power networks are modeled as an example, and some solutions to increase overall resiliency of an urban district against earthquake is investigated. The algorithm is based on the inoperability input-output model, and the interaction between water and power sectors in a metropolitan district is surveyed. Based on the results of a number of Monte Carlo simulations of different dependency scenarios, it is quantitatively shown that the decrease in interdependency has a direct and great effect on the increase in serviceability and overall resiliency indices, but the pattern of this effect is different between various earthquake scenarios. It is concluded that the reduction of interdependency has an increasing effect on the overall resiliency index. Thus, an optimum value for interdependency reduction can be obtained to increase resiliency index using the Pareto principle, and the influence of reducing of interdependency on increasing the resiliency of a region as a whole is investigated. The proposed model may be used in system analysis for other dependent sectors and for different disasters and can also be considered as a helpful measure for decision-makers in sustainability and resiliency enhancement studies.

The study of the resilience of the cities against earthquake is one of the necessities for the reduction of losses and death toll of the earthquakes. Resilience has various definitions and there is not a unique comprehensive model for its quantitative assessment. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to provide a comprehensive quantitative indicator for resilience and to study the efficacy of social and governance strategies in improvement of urban resilience against earthquake. To achieve this aim, first effective dimensions and indices of resilience of urban areas were explored and extracted by reviewing available research studies and experts elicitation method. Then based on experts’ opinions and pairwise comparison the model was justified and the relative weights for dimensions and indices were obtained and a comprehensive overall resilience index was introduced. Using the proposed index, the efficacy of different social and governance strategies were compared considering three different earthquake scenarios of North-Tehran, Ray fault, and floating faults. The comparisons were based on three metrics i.e. absolute value of resilience increase, distance from the origin of the Pareto chart considering implementation duration time and costs, and the ratio of cost to resilience increase. In this regard, strategy S3 (90 percent increase of social resilience), strategy S1 (10 percent increase of social resilience) and strategy S3 were the optimal ones based on the first, second and third metrics, respectively. On the whole, the social strategies had better efficiency than the governance ones, but it seems in practice the social and governance strategy categories must be implemented in an integrated manner which could be considered as a future research proposal.

Earthquake has always endangered cities. This article mainly focuses on the question “whether seismic damages could be diminished through the presentation a preventive operational pattern dealing with physical and nonphysical features of civil defense”. Tehran, the most populous metropolis among Iranian cities is to the south of Alborz mountain range, located on potentially dangerous fault- lines. By Civil Defense Emergency Management (CDEM) preventive guidelines in a part of district 10 of Tehran, within the Ray fault’s danger zone, it is recommended that the earthquake vulnerability zoning plot of the area be compiled and accordingly, operational solutions encompassing organizing open spaces, redistributing and re-allocating land uses, enhancing relocating disaster management centers to more commanding locations are offered to be implemented within the physical structure of the area. The IHWP method and the Raster Calculator tool in GIS have been used for compiling the zoning of earthquake vulnerability.

INTRODUCTION: Natural hazards, especially earthquakes, have resulted in mass casualties and damages in different parts of Iran. Therefore, it is necessary to take required measures in relation to risk reduction, preparedness and coping with earthquake effects. Regarding the fact that resilience is a relatively new concept, despite the great attention to this term and its abundant application in different fields, measuring the level of earthquake resilience, as well as creating and improving it in urban settlements is a challenging necessity. METHODS: The review of literature was carried out first and the physical resilience indicators were deduced. Subsequently, a questionnaire was prepared for experts with the aim of weighting and prioritizing the indicators. Then the weight of them was calculated using the Expert Choice software and AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process). After weighing, the indicators were prioritized. In the next step, the required information layers were prepared in accordance with the inferred indices in GIS software. After preparing the required layers and maps, a fuzzy function was used to standardize. Then, the weight of the layers was multiplied in the standardized indicators, and after calculating the layers, the final map of the physical resilience of Karaj City, Iran, against earthquake was prepared and analyzed. FINDINGS: Karaj City is one of the most vulnerable areas to earthquake due to its place located in the southern slopes of Alborz and on active faults. According to the maps prepared in this paper, large areas of Karaj City, especially in the central regions, have formed vulnerable places, which in the event of an earthquake, will have huge casualties and damages in the urban areas. CONCLUSION: It is suggested that the physical resilience of the living environment within the case study should be in accordance with the prioritization obtained in the article: 1) infrastructures, 2) buildings, 3) urban structure and 4) land use and natural factors. Also, spatial priorities should be observed in promoting urban resilience in accordance with the final map.

high vulnerability of these infrastructures raise the question of what effects the demolition of these infrastructures would have. Natural disaster management is entirely dependent on the capacity and efficiency of the central government in Iran and the government also mobilizes and organizes crisis management and resources through an almost monopoly and exclusively controlled information system. Therefore, the present study was accomplished to examine some of the likely impacts and consequences of an earthquake in Tehran from a prospective perspective. METHODS: Using documentary data and the implementation of a two-round expert panel, it was examined whether the demolition of information infrastructures due to a potential earthquake in Tehran would impose efficacy and influence crises on the government. In this way, basic study information was collected using library documents and the futurological aspects of the problem, i.e. the probability of a severe earthquake, destruction of media infrastructure, and the subsequent possible crises were investigated using the Expert panel method. FINDINGS: Taking into account the tectonic potentials and historical backgrounds, the occurrence of a major earthquake with magnitude greater than 7 is highly probable in Tehran. Given the density of information structures, installations, and trusted organizations in vulnerable areas, there is a high likelihood of destruction of a large part of the information infrastructure and networks. This situation, in the absence of measures and sufficient alternative networks, would increase the likelihood of severe disruptions in the information and crisis management process. Such a situation, given the social and political contexts, is likely to trigger or intensify the efficacy and influence crises. CONCLUSION: Considering the drawbacks present in the information structure, i.e. the concentration in Tehran and the imminent destructive earthquake in Tehran, as well as the location of its physical buildings in the vicinity of earthquake faults, there would be many crises facing the country.

INTRODUCTION: Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is one of the adverse events occurring in people exposed to severe traumatic experiences, such as earthquakes. The devastating effects of such events and their associated losses are significantly higher in children and adolescents. The present study aimed to determine the effectiveness of cognitive rehabilitation on academic achievement with the moderating role of emotion regulation in earthquake-stricken adolescents with PTSD in Kermanshah. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted based on a pre- and post-test design with control and experimental groups. Among the students who were diagnosed with PTSD in Kermanshah earthquake, 48 cases were selected and assigned to the control and experimental groups. Data collection instruments were Captain's Log cognitive rehabilitation software, and motion Regulation Scale developed by Gratz and Roemer. Students' academic achievement was judged based on the scores obtained from end-of-semester transcripts and teachers' evaluations. Data were analyzed in SPSS software (version 26). FINDINGS: Based on the results, cognitive rehabilitation is effective in the academic achievement of students with PTSD (P<0.01). Moreover, emotion regulation can moderate the effect of this method on academic achievement (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: As evidenced by the obtained results, cognitive rehabilitation can effectively strengthen cognitive abilities and components related to executive functions. In so doing, it enhances the educational performance of students with PTSD and brings them academic achievement.

INTRODUCTION: Resilience is considered a way of strengthening societies using their capacities which can be defined as the ability of systems to adapt to changes without collapsing at the incidence of disasters. To understand resilience and the way it is analyzed at the community level, it is necessary to study the society's current condition and policies, as well as the measures adopted to reduce risk and how the risks in society are dealt with. This study aimed to assess the resilience of urban communities in the face of an earthquake. METHODS: This descriptive-analytical study was conducted using a questionnaire to collect the required data in Semnan, Iran, in 2019. The statistical population of this study (n=384) consisted of the citizens of Semnan selected using the Cochran formula and random sampling method. The collected data were analyzed in SPSS software (version 23) using mean and percentage for descriptive analysis and Pearson correlation coefficient and one-sample t-test for inferential statistical tests. FINDINGS: Based on the results, the sociocultural, infrastructural-physical, economic, and institutional-organizational dimensions showed the current condition of resilience in Semnan with the mean scores obtained as 2.59, 3.05, 2.17, and 2.56, respectively. It was also revealed that resilience had a significant relationship with age, education, income, accommodation ownership, employment, calculated by the Pearson correlation coefficient (P-value=0.99). CONCLUSION: The mean scores and significance level of the economic resilience in Semnan revealed that this city lacked economic resilience. In this regard, it can be noted that residents' lack of skills in other fields and jobs, lack of possessions outside the city, the vulnerability of residents' properties and assets, level of economic poverty in the city, citizens' limited financial ability to participate economically, and low level of household savings to compensate for earthquake damage have made returning to pre-crisis conditions highly difficult for citizens, and consequently, they cannot be economically resilient.

INTRODUCTION: Nowshahr port city can suffer a lot of damages in case of an earthquake due to its location in seismotectonics of Alborz with high seismic hazard, proximity to the sea, and expansion on isolated sediments. Therefore, the recognition and analysis of the extent of earthquake vulnerability in different areas of this port city can reduce damages and losses. This study was conducted to analyze and evaluate the earthquake risk and vulnerability and identify safe areas in the city of Nowshahr in times of earthquake. METHODS: In this study, the earthquake risk of Nowshahr city was analyzed based on the Wisner model and the application of multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) approach using fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP). Initially, the effective criteria, sub-criteria, and indicators in the earthquake risk and vulnerability components were collected through a systematic review based on previous research, field survey, and experts' opinion, and were then screened and weighed by the Delphi method. Finally, the earthquake risk and vulnerability maps were extracted and drawn using a weighted linear combination method and fuzzy index maps related to each component. FINDINGS: According to the findings, about 97.13% (2,810.229 ha), 2.75% (79.567 ha), and 0.12% (3.441 ha) of Nowshahr city were placed in the low, medium, and high-risk category. CONCLUSION: Analysis of risk maps showed that the earthquake risk was higher in the central and northwestern parts of Nowshahr city than in the other areas. These areas were densely populated with heavy traffic jams, in which located high-risk facilities, such as gas lines and water and sewer networks, that reminded of the necessity of planning and urgent action regarding the improvement of urban settlements and organization of urban spaces in this region.

INTRODUCTION: The buildings, as the main and most abundant elements in cities, have great importance in two aspects of assessing and mitigating the vulnerability at disaster incidence. On the other hand, the emphasis of post disaster reconstruction engineers on the single-scale building has compounded the importance of building in terms of planning to reduce the damages of disaster incidence. METHODS: This quantitative-descriptive study was conducted documentary studies and extraction of priority indicators determining the degree of vulnerability. This research aimed to assess the vulnerability of Qadghoon buildings, one of the historical neighborhoods of Borujerd, Lorestan Province, Iran, which was damaged and reconstructed after the 2007 earthquake, for more than a decade. FINDINGS: The data obtained from the field study of this neighborhood were analyzed after entering into GIS software and weighted by Analytic Hierarchy Process-Delphi. The provided maps were evaluated and the vulnerability score obtained from indicators was weighted by the above method. Finally, the score of vulnerabilities in neighborhoods in the range of 0-5 Likert scale was calculated at 3.5208, which indicated a moderate increase in vulnerability. CONCLUSION: After the examination of actions taken in the post-earthquake reconstruction process, reduction of vulnerability evaluation was low. This result indicated the failure of operators to reduce the vulnerability on a scale of buildings, despite the large opportunities and resources. In addition to lessons from the present study, some suggestions were provided to improve the process of reconstruction after possible disasters in the future. Keywords: Borujerd; Earthquake; Qadghoon Neighborhood; Single-scale of Building; Vulnerability Assessment.

INTRODUCTION: The structure of the urban platform of Tehran and its physical characteristics depends on the inherent conditions and environmental thresholds in relation to changes. This study aimed to determine the natural landscapes of Tehran by two phenomena of earthquake and flood that posed the highest risk in different periods of this city. Therefore, the natural perspective of Tehran is divided into three perspectives of north, central, and south regarding the inherent features and evolutionary process. METHODS: The relationship between the perspective of Tehran based on the form and geomorphological processes and the evaluation of earthquake and flood hazards have been observed in four stages, which included data collection, data processing, calculation of indicators, and analysis of findings. The studied area was divided into three northern, central, and south urban landscapes to determine the resistance thresholds of the city according to the characteristics of topography, physiography, geology, the results of field studies and satellite images, aerial photographs, as well as paleogeomorphological research in Tehran. FINDINGS: According to the zoning map of Tehran based on the earthquake phenomenon in three perspectives of north, center, and south, the highest distribution of non-resistance is observed in the northern and southern areas of the city. Northeast, southwest, and semi-western regions have the highest urban resilience to earthquakes. Moreover, regarding the zoning of Tehran based on the flood phenomenon in the three perspectives of north, center, and south, the highest distribution of non-resilience has been observed in the northern regions of the city. Northeast, southwest, and west of Tehran have the highest urban flood resilience. CONCLUSION: Based on the results of the present study, in order to increase resilience against the risks of earthquakes and floods, the city of Tehran should be studied not in just one perspective but in different perspectives.

INTRODUCTION: Despite the progress of urbanization, earthquake as one of the most important natural hazards threatens most cities in the world. Accordingly, managing and reducing the vulnerability of cities to this disaster, as well as the planned relief and rescue operation, are of particular importance. The city of Isfahan, Iran, is one of the areas which requires proper attention and planning due to its high population density and vulnerability. In this regard, this study was conducted to identify the physical texture vulnerability of the District 5 of Isfahan to earthquakes and its impact during rescue and relief operations. METHODS: To conduct the research, the indices of access to green space, building density, population density, distance from the fault, distance from relief centers, access to roads and arteries, and width of roads were selected due to their frequency in studies conducted on the vulnerability of cities and scores given by specialists. Finally, the critical areas of the region were determined by weighting each of the indices using the analytic hierarchy process method in Expert Choice software (version 11) and examining the vulnerability of the region in the Geographic Information System. FINDINGS: It was revealed that 68% of the area had a suitable density of green space, and 73% and 88% of the region had low building and population densities, respectively. Moreover, 76% of the area had good access to relief centers and the whole area had proper passages. Finally, it was found that no faults passed through this area, and the impact of adjacent faults caused this area to be in a moderate situation in terms of vulnerability. CONCLUSION: The critical areas were determined by overlaying each of the vulnerability layers of the city and applying their degree of importance. The results showed that 6% and 18% of the areas were in critical and highly vulnerable conditions, respectively. Therefore, rescue and relief operations would be performed with an acceptable capacity after such disasters as earthquakes.

INTRODUCTION: Identification of the settlements located in high-risk zones in terms of natural hazards is one of the first steps in risk management and development planning. This study aimed to identify villages exposed to earthquakes and floods in South Khorasan province. METHODS: The present study used the Analytic Hierarchy Process method to evaluate the validity and reliability of measuring instruments through exploratory factor analysis. Since the value of the KMO index was 0.879, the number of samples was sufficient for analysis. Moreover, the significance of the Bartlett test was less than 5% and Cronbach's alpha coefficient was obtained at 0.856; accordingly, the questionnaire was reliable. FINDINGS: Based on the spatial analysis of the seismic vulnerability, 214 and 502 villages were in the zone of very high and high vulnerability, respectively. Moreover, the results of flood vulnerability showed that the southern and northwestern parts of South Khorasan province had the lowest vulnerability. The number of villages located in the very high vulnerable zone was very limited and included only seven villages of Chenesht, Kalateh Abbas, Takti Ti, Tangel Behdan, Ebru, Khankuk, and Ostan Siah, which are located in the east of the province. CONCLUSION: Based on the integrated results of two hazards (i.e., earthquakes and floods), it is observed that 523 rural settlements are in a very high-risk zone, which accounts for 14.7% of the total settlements in the South Khorasan province, compared to the total rural settlements. Furthermore, the highest dispersion frequency of rural settlements is in the zone of moderate vulnerability. This zone with 1,344 settlements includes about 37.7% of the total settlements in the province

Introduction: Natural disasters are known as one of the most important factors in the destruction of human settlements. One of the key concerns for urban planners is examining how natural disasters affect human settlements, particularly cities. Earthquake is one of these natural disasters that has always threatened human settlements and can cause a lot of damage and casualties in a short period. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the vulnerability of settlements in District 2 of Tabriz, Iran, against earthquakes. Methods: This applied research was conducted based on a descriptive-analytical approach. The primary data of existing documents and maps were collected from related organizations. The analytical hierarchy process model and geographic information system software were used for data analysis. Findings: To determine the vulnerability of the texture of District 2 of Tabriz, such indicators as the distance from the fault, slope percentage, groundwater levels, building age, building materials, building quality, building density, number of floors, plot area, and land use were employed. Conclusion: According to the results, 35% of the region was in the high-risk and 25% in the very high-risk areas. In general, it can be said that most of the region (i.e. 60%) was in the area with a high risk of earthquake, and the area with very high risk was mostly in the northern parts of the region, while the southeastern parts of the region were located in low-risk areas

INTRODUCTION: The network of relief centers, which is a connected set of relief centers, rescue points, and rescue routes, is of utmost importance during an earthquake. This study aimed to model this network to identify the aid-receiving points and rescue routes, followed by the development of plans to improve the aid-giving process during an earthquake. METHODS: This descriptive-analytical study was conducted based on an applied research method and a quantitative approach. The required data were obtained through the library method (documents). The data used in this study included location information of relief centers (hospitals, crisis management centers, Red Crescent centers) and the transportation routes among them. These pieces of information were collected from related plans and documents. The obtained data related to the location of relief centers were analyzed using Spatial Analysis, and Network Analysis tools were utilized to analyze the transportation routes among the relief centers. FINDINGS: The findings in this study revealed the right places for receiving aid and the rescue routes that deliver aid from the aid-giving to the aid-receiving centers in the central zone of Tehran in the shortest time. Moreover, the relief centers were ranked based on their importance during a crisis. CONCLUSION: The results of this study show the number of required aid-receiving points in the central zone of Tehran through which the aid needed during a crisis can be delivered from rescue centers. The findings revealed which relief centers played a more significant role during an earthquake. The identification of these points and routes makes the provision of special planning possible during an earthquake.

INTRODUCTION: An earthquake is a major natural disaster with widespread and great effects on human life and nature. Taking care of the basic needs of earthquake victims is an essential step that should be addressed immediately. Moreover, the evaluation of various problems after disasters, especially earthquakes, is of crucial importance for the affected people. The management of humanitarian aid and public assistance among these affected people is considered one of the most important post-earthquake concerns. Therefore, the present study was conducted to evaluate the post-earthquake challenges and strengths of providing humanitarian aid services in Sisakht, Yasuj, in February 2019. METHODS: This qualitative case study was conducted from March 2019 to July 2020. The studied population consisted of 20 participants including medical staff (n=10), clergy (n=2), crisis managers (n=4), and military personnel (n=4). The required data were collected through observation and semi-structured interviews, which continued until data saturation. To evaluate the reliability of the data, the strategies recommended by Guba were used. The data were analyzed by conventional content analysis based on the method proposed by Graneheim and Lundman. FINDINGS: The advantages and strengths of this study included humanitarian cooperation and coordination, as well as the timely presence of relief and rescue teams and law enforcement agencies from the post-earthquake first hours, which had a great impact on reducing the suffering of people. The challenges in providing post-earthquake services included health, medical, management, geographical, and spatial concerns and issues related to the earthquake victims (relief goods distribution problem and inappropriate information dissemination as the main challenges). CONCLUSION: Effective and appropriate management policies regarding the management of providing post-earthquake services and elimination of the structural and managerial obstacles can improve the operation and management of humanitarian aid.

INTRODUCTION: In order to increase the capacity to deal with earthquake hazards, increasing urban resilience has become a basic priority for most governments. Based on this, the current research was written with the aim of measuring the physical resilience of the peripheral part of the 20th district of Tehran against earthquakes. METHODS: The research method is applied in terms of purpose and analytical-exploratory in nature, which was used to analyze information using the AHP technique in Expert Choice software and the opinion of 25 experts. FINDINGS: The findings showed that district 20 of Tehran city will face a serious crisis due to having many worn-out and marginalized structures, short-term residential units, old buildings, high population density, small area of residential land and narrow roads. CONCLUSION: According to the obtained results, about 47% of the fabric of district 20 is highly vulnerable to the earthquake crisis. Therefore, appropriate policymaking to manage earthquake crisis, especially in strengthening buildings and land use planning in this area, is an inevitable necessity.