Abstract:

Nowadays, remote sensing and GIS technologies play a significant role in determination of the most appropriate strategies to monitor disasters, to assess damages, to manage and to mitigate disasters. Despite the fact that earthquakes are a part of our lives, we fail to carry out sufficient land use and planning analysis activities before and after earthquake. The destruction disaster caused by the earthquake affecting the Marmara Region shows that existing land use plans were made ignoring the reality of earthquake disasters in our country. With this study, a useful step has been taken to overcome this issue. In this study, multicriteria evaluation method was used to carry out a settlement suitability analysis through integration of satellite and ground data according to the scenario of the 17th August 1999 Marmara Earthquake in Turkey. In this context, by using the research methods of the various professional groups, geological formations, faults and earthquake magnitude, deformation state, land cover and land use capability classes, digital elevation model, the main road network and residential status were evaluated in accordance with the ranking of the importance, and potential settlement suitability map has been produced in 5 classess for the Kocaeli province. This map was compared with the contemporary land use and land cover status and the results obtained are given on subdistrict basis. The final part of this study includes the settlement suitability analysis for the newly constructed permanent residential areas of the Kocaeli Province.

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