Air Aid Bridge Problem for the Case of Possible Istanbul Earthquake

A devastating earthquake struck Türkiye in February 6th, 2023. Under harsh weather conditions, responsiveness was the first priority. All available rescue teams were supposed to immediately reach the earthquake points to save the victims but some were stuck in the gridlocked traffic. A major issue resulting from such an earthquake is the disruption of the transportation networks, hence making it difficult to deploy rescue teams in the very aftermath of the disaster. To find a way out, the Ministry of Turkish National Defence immediately started setting up an Air Aid Bridge and announced İncirlik Air Base as the hub location for the transportation of the rescue teams. As in this example, Türkiye also awaits a possible Istanbul earthquake and should be ready to mitigate the severity of disaster's impact by all means. In this study, we define a solution for this problem in its simple form and define it as the Air Aid Bridge Problem, model it as a variant of P-center problem and apply the methodology to the possible Istanbul earthquake. The main objective is to minimise the maximum time of completing the rescue teams-dispatching activities in any airport. Using a min-max type of objective not only minimises the makespan of a response wave, but it also helps balance the workload of the airports more effectively. The results show that Atatürk and Sabiha Gökçen Airports would be the most active ones therefore available resources should be planned accordingly. Istanbul Airport would be extremely busy if Atatürk and Sabiha Gökçen Airport becomes inoperable due to the quake. To spread this overload, considering nearby airports would be necessary as we show in different scenarios. In any case, such a response through air could be initiated approximately in around the 12th hour, hence each neighborhood should locally establish the first coordination efforts until the professional teams arrive and take the responsibility.