Complementarity of field and remote sensing based damage assessments in the early analysis of shelter loss for the February 2023 Türkiye earthquakes

Damage assessments are used in emergency response and are key to determine the scale of the event and the need for aid. This study focuses on damage assessments in the aftermath of the February 2023 Türkiye earthquakes in the city of Antakya. The aim of the research was to evaluate the complementarity of damage assessments done using remote sensing and on-site surveys. Satellite damage assessments detect damage limited to the vertical perspective, i.e., roof status, whereas on-site damage assessments compare the building’s current state to its pre-earthquake condition for further usability. In this study, three methods were employed to evaluate shelter loss: automated remote sensing analysis, visual interpretation, and on-site damage assessment. The result showed that visual interpretation of April 2023 images identified 24% more damage than the automated damage assessment done by the Netherlands Red Cross on February 2023 imagery, which in turn only identified 59% of the damage determined on-site by the Ministry of Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change. The study reveals that the initial remote sensing assessment underestimated shelter loss in the area, highlighting the crucial need for comprehensive comparisons among diverse assessment methodologies and data sources to enhance the accuracy of building damage estimations for effective emergency response.