A Comprehensive Evaluation Model for Earthquake Emergency Shelter

The most important thing facing all levels of government after an earthquake is to do everything possible to rescue injured people and evacuate those who are in the dangerous area to the safe places as soon as possible. What kinds of shelters are selected to be appropriate as earthquake shelters? This is an issue that emergency management agencies have to deal with. For this reason it is necessary to set an evaluation model for earthquake emergency shelter (EES) so as to provide groundwork for decision making in the selection of earthquake emergency shelters. The objective of this study focuses on establishing a comprehensive evaluation model for the selection of earthquake emergency shelters. A total of three evaluation indicators are picked up: capacity of shelter, quality of facility, and accessibility. The definitions and quantitative calculation procedure of these indicators are elaborated. The weight of each indicator is estimated based on Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). A case study is also conducted to substantiate the validity and usefulness of the model. The results of this study can provide technical support in the selection of shelters for earthquake.