Locating Temporary Housing Sites for Earthquake Victims in Borujen City

The risk of earthquake has threatened human settlements ever since. Despite the advancement of science and technology in the present age, the humankind has not yet been able to accurately predict and counteract earthquakes. However, it is possible to minimize the devastations upon appropriate management. This study enquired in to the selection of temporary housing sites as a crisis management measure for earthquake victims in Borujen city. Therefore, based on library research and comments of experts and crisis management specialists, contributory factors and parameters to temporary housing sites selection were identified. The final weight of each factor was determined by using the Analytical Hierarchy Process Model (AHP). The geographic information system (GIS) was used to prepare maps in different layers. Spatial and non-spatial data were combined by using the final weights of each of the factors and analyzed in the GIS, which resulted in the selection of the best places for temporary housing sites. The results of the paired comparisons showed that the geological parameter was the least important with the significance coefficient of 0.16 and the safety parameter was the most important with the coefficient of 0.376. Moreover, the results indicated that parks and green spaces and schools were the best places for establishing temporary housing sites for earthquake victims in the city of Borujen, whereas the required space for temporary housing sites in the central part of the city is hardly sufficient.