Earthquakes as a natural occurrence and disaster: A qualitative research from the perspective of chaos theory

Abstract

A concept that inspired social sciences as well as many other fields of science was developed from chaos theory. Disaster researchers are also trying to approach, understand, explain and manage disasters with this new concept. However, it has been observed that studies investigating disasters from this perspective do not focus on disaster sources. With this starting point, in this research, the chaotic factors that prepare the disaster formation were investigated with the example of earthquake. The study was carried out with the qualitative method. Data were collected by semi-structured online interview. Participants were selected by purposive sampling method. The interview data obtained from a total of 10 participants were managed with the MAQXDA 2018 software package using the traditional content analysis method. All codes were classified into three themes and 11 categories. According to the findings, earthquakes can be dealt with in three different chaotic periods: a natural event, a natural event that turns into a disaster, and disaster response and recovery. Future research is recommended to explain the dynamics of occurrence of other disasters such as floods, storms, explosions, and epidemics. It is recommended that disaster management practitioners integrate the chaos management approach into disaster management. With this, it is hoped that disaster management will shift from a linear, bureaucratic, command-control approach to a community-based, flexible, continuous planning approach in which even the smallest occurrences are carefully monitored.