Factors Affecting the Success of Disaster Response Management: The Case of the 2023 Türkiye Earthquakes

Abstract

Although response time is essential in disasters, if an effective coordination mechanism is not established, response processes face more significant problems. To improve disaster management systems globally, lessons learned from past disasters are evaluated and suggestions for improvement are presented to prevent faulty practices from being repeated in the future. This study aims to investigate the factors that caused the 2023 T & uuml;rkiye earthquakes to turn into disasters from the perspective of complexity theory and to present suggestions on the problems encountered in coordination, which is one of the critical parameters of disaster response, and the strategies to be implemented for their solution. The study was conducted using an in-depth interview technique. Within the scope of the survey, in-depth interviews were conducted with 14 disaster management experts who took an active part in earthquakes. The data were analyzed using the thematic analysis method. The study evaluated disaster response management parameters under five themes: transportation, communication, safety, coordination, and logistics.