Sufficiency Assessment of Assembly Areas after Kahramanmaraş Earthquakes 2023 by Remote Sensing

Sequential Sofalaca-Sehitkamil Gaziantep (Mw:7.7) and Ekinözü Kahramanmaraş (Mw:7.6) earthquakes occurred on two different segments of the East Anatolian Fault Zone on February 6th, 2023. Earthquakes struck 11 provinces in the area, but three cities were enormously devastated. Following such disasters, post-earthquake assembly areas serve as the initial hubs of activity and offer temporary sheltering. Modern studies frequently explore models of temporary housing and evacuation shelter locations, however, the majority of them are not appropriate for gathering places. In this study, the post-disaster usability of 37 assembly areas determined in the Dulkadiroglu district after the Kahramanmaras earthquakes were examined by remote sensing methods. As a result of remote sensing analysis, it was observed that the designated assembly areas were not used by the victims. There are no studies about the sufficiency of predetermined assembly areas in the region of the February 6 earthquakes. In this study, the effectiveness and the sufficiency of preplanned assembly places were examined following the two severe earthquakes that struck Kahramanmaraş city on February 6, 2023.