Özet:

A significant portion of Turkey's urban settlements, situated along the Mediterranean-Himalayan Seismic Belt, faces the risk of earthquakes. One of the cities where geomorphological factors limit and earthquakes exert destructive effects is Antakya. In this study, the open-green space sports facilities, and official institution locations in the city center, which serve as gathering spaces, are planned to be qualitatively and quantitatively analyzed during the urban development process of the last 20-30 years before earthquakes. The objective is to evaluate the feasibility of these spaces specified in the Antakya Provincial Disaster Intervention Plan from the perspective of urban geography. To achieve this, the adequacy of post-earthquake gathering areas concerning population density in Antakya and its surroundings has been analyzed using Geographic Information System. Qualitative methods, including fieldwork using the survey-observation technique, were employed in the study area for the identification of post-disaster gathering areas and the analysis of existing ones. Criteria such as Slope Condition, Fault Line and Setback Distances, Transportation Network Analysis, Bridge Condition, Evaluation in terms of Population, Landslide/Rockfall, Proximity to Rivers, and Lithology characteristics were determined. Initial gathering areas obtained from the Hatay Provincial Disaster and Emergency Management Directorate were transferred to Geographic Information Systems, and spatial and statistical analyses were conducted converting them into thematic maps. The analysis of these gathering areas revealed their inadequacy both in terms of area for the city's population and other physical and human geography characteristics. The accuracy of these findings became evident in the aftermath of the earthquakes on February 6, 2023. In future city reconstruction and planning efforts, population structure and land conditions and post-earthquake gathering areas should be redesigned.

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