Assessment of Seismic Vulnerability in Urban and Rural Health Service Centers of Hamadan Province Using Geographic Information Systems

Abstract

Background: Maintaining the performance of healthcare centers during an earthquake is essential. Evaluating the seismic vulnerability of these centers is a priority. This study aims to evaluate seismic vulnerability using geographic information systems (GIS) in urban and rural health service centers of Hamadan Province, Iran, in 2021. Materials and Methods: This is a descriptive, analytical cross-sectional study that was conducted in comprehensive health centers. The data of this study were collected in the form of a questionnaire and a map and analyzed using the hierarchical analysis model. In the study, 10 criteria, such as the type of materials, the age of the building, the quality of the building, the number of floors, the area of ​​the centers, as well as the distance from the existing fault lines, and the proximity to the hazardous centers, are defined using a valuation questionnaire, using the chain analysis method, weighting and prioritizing, and using GIS, vulnerability maps of comprehensive urban and rural health centers of Hamadan province were obtained. Results: Among the indices, the distance from the fault index with a weight of 0.328 has the highest and the area distance with a weight of 0.17 has the lowest final weight. The vulnerability distribution of the centers included 46.99% very low vulnerability, 7.23% low vulnerability, 5.42% moderate vulnerability, 20.48% high vulnerability, and 19.88% very high vulnerability. Conclusion: Considering that many urban and rural health service centers are vulnerable to seismic hazards, it is necessary to strengthen vulnerable centers against earthquakes.