A Municipal Response to Double Disasters of Turkey; Elazig Earthquake and Covid-19

COVID-19 pandemic has affected lives of millions of people both economically and psychologically. Governments have taken various measures to prevent spread of the virus on the one hand, and to compensate economic loss of citizens on the other. However, when natural hazards, such as earthquakes, combine with the pandemic, measures that are more effective may be required. Local governments, which are the closest to citizens in all sense, come forward at this point as the essential provider of social assistance. Elazığ, an important commercial and economic center across its region in Turkey, suffered a major earthquake and Covid-19 almost at the same time. A rapid emergence in the demand of social assistance occurred in Elazığ, and therefore, the Municipality had to deal with double disasters in the most effective way possible. This study analyzes the impact of social assistance provided by Elazığ Municipality by using both quantitative and qualitative research. Considering the findings of qualitative research, which was applied to Municipality officials, and the quantitative research, which was applied to beneficiaries, there is a high level of satisfaction with social assistance even though there are some points that are required to be developed

2019-20 coronavirus outbreak · Outbreak · Seismology · Disaster Management and Resilience · Disaster Response and Management · Medicine · Geology · Internal Medicine · Virology