Assessing the earthquake systemic vulnerability of the urban centres in the South-East region of Romania. The tale of Galați and Brăila Cities, Romania

Abstract

Earthquakes are one of the most destructive natural phenomena in the world, their impact being of particular severity in urban areas. Failures relating to proper allocation of resources, to the identification of optimal routes between the affected urban areas and relief centres, and to the mitigation of potential earthquake-triggered destructive phenomena emerge as systemic vulnerability sources. This paper aims to assess the seismic systemic vulnerability of the 6 administrative centres in the South-East region of Romania, by proposing a weighted composite index (Earthquake Vulnerability Index, ESVI) that integrates indicators referring to the accessibility of emergency services centres, the capacity of the local medical infrastructure and secondary danger sources. The validation of ESVI relies on Sensitivity Analysis and Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) methods. Moreover, in order to illustrate the utility of an assessment of this type, a comparative case study of Galați and Brăila Cities is presented. This paper shows how the integration of GIS tools and techniques may improve vulnerability assessments, especially when they are used in conjunction with MCDM methods. ESVI and its integrated maps point out the most vulnerable urban centres and the hotspots of vulnerability within them, allowing for advanced regional and local scale planning of emergency interventions.

Keywords

• Seismic vulnerability
• ESVI
• MCDM vulnerability assessment
• Galați City
• Brăila City