Purpose: This paper aims to address improvements in household preparedness against earthquake risks. Design/methodology/approach: Two surveys were conducted in 2008 and 2013 to reveal prevention and preparedness measures which Istanbul’s inhabitants had taken in their households. Findings: The findings of surveys show the progress in taking risk reduction measures which have been propagating from higher socio-economic status through all segments of the community in a five-year period. This shift is also evidence of the efficiency of community awareness programs conducted by governmental and non-governmental bodies in Istanbul. Originality/value: The evaluation of the impacts of community awareness programs which leads the progress in risk reduction activities in Istanbul is a valuable example for large cities which are facing natural threats. The findings of this paper can be considered as a facilitator in understanding the tendency of different socio-economic groups against earthquake risk.

A Rank-Size Rule Analysis of The City System at The Country and Province Level in Turkey

Natural hazards, particularly earthquakes, can trigger technological accidents in industrial facilities, known as Natech events, leading to cascading secondary hazards. This paper focuses on Istanbul, a densely populated megacity situated in a high seismic activity zone. Past devastating earthquakes in Türkiye, such as Kocaeli (1999) and Kahramanmaraş (2023), have demonstrated the potential for catastrophic Natech events. This study presents neighborhood-level assessment of potential Natech risks in Istanbul specifically under the scenario of the probable earthquake, analyzing the spatial intersection of structural vulnerability and hazardous industrial/economic activities. The methodology integrates seismic structural damage estimations for 939 neighborhoods using geocoded data on over 500,000 businesses, based on workplace hazard classification. Three indices were introduced: ( i ) Damage Ratio Index to quantify seismic structural risk per neighborhood, ( ii ) Natech Share Index to assess the share of very hazardous business activities, and Integrated Natech-Risk Assessment to combine structural risk and Natech-risk. The analysis identifies 8,785 businesses engaged in activities posing significant Natech risks, 4,843 chemical leakage and 3,942 fire/explosion. Findings indicated that neighborhoods classified with high structural vulnerability combined with a high share of hazardous activities represent critical hotspots, with approximately 17% of Istanbul’s neighborhoods falling into the highest risk category, encompassing 31% of the city’s population, 25% of the total businesses and 24% of the Natech-risky businesses. These findings highlight the critical necessity of integrating seismic hazard assessments with industrial risk management and targeted land-use planning to enhance urban resilience and mitigate potentially devastating consequences from Natech events triggered by the seismic events.

Systemic risks possess a high level of complexity and uncertainty that can be latent behind the veil of initial stress of possible disasters. They refer to, on the one hand, the functionality of interconnected systems and, on the other hand, the probability of indirect losses which can propagate through larger territories. Once considering the solid definition of resilience by the United Nations, the emphasis tends on systems’ ability to different facets of disturbance rather than the performance of the sum of each singular entity confronting the main shock. This paper aims to provide a broader perspective and a systematic review focusing on the commons of resilience and systemic risks in the frame of risk mitigation. The outcomes highlight the urgency of multidisciplinary actions, which have not been achieved yet since the 1999s earthquakes.