Earthquake Risk Assessment in Search of Sites for Temporary Settlement by GIS (Case Study: Northern areas of Tabriz City)

Earthquake is one of the natural risk factors known as the most destructive disaster in human life. Unfortunately, in several cities in our country, for example in Manjil, Roudbar, Salmas, and Bam, … many people lost their lives .in the past earthquakes. Tabriz city, due to its proximity to the northern Fault and its unplanned development like outskirt areas as well as its historical and old texture is in danger of the earthquake disaster. When an earthquake happens on a large scale, it would destroy structures and leads to injury and even death of people, so site selection for accommodating and transfer of victims immediately and quickly after the earthquake is an important subject in crisis management. It is also important to provide their primary needs for food, clothing and medical relief. Temporary settlement sites must be selected before a disaster happens, to fulfill the crisis management process conveniently. Indeed, temporary site selection requires proper evaluation and employment of specific criteria. Some of the criteria considered in this study are population density, building concentration, access to pathways network, proximity to urban installations, hospitals and therapeutic centers and access to open areas. It is not appropriate to plan one or two large camps for damaged people rather it is necessary to have several camps incordance to the scale of the problem and with the reasonable distribution. Analysis and examination of such vast information need a powerful tool and technique. Albeit being a new approach and a less than decades lifetime, Geographical Information System plays an important role in urban planning and urbanism and helps planners to make quick, precise, and cost-effective decisions. (e.g., network analysis, AHP). In this study temporary settlement sites around Tabriz city are identified by using the techniques of GIS.