Determination of areas with earthquake damage risk potential in Kars city based on GISbased AHP analysis

In order to take measures to prevent possible losses in earthquakes that may occur in many parts of the world and Turkiye, it is necessary to determine the areas with earthquake damage risk potential and their characteristics. For this purpose, the use of Multi -Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) methods has become increasingly important in recent years. In this study, it is aimed to spatially determine the areas with earthquake damage risk potential within the administrative borders of Kars city municipality and their features by using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), one of the Multi -Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) methods based on Geographic Information Systems (GIS). In the data analysis phase of the study, AHP pairwise comparisons were made in order to determine the weight values of the research criteria. By using the weight values obtained, Weighted Overlay analysis was performed on the GIS software and the areas with earthquake damage potential in the research area were mapped and determined. As a result of the study, it was determined that 51.5% of Kars city, which has an area of 7152 km2, has earthquake damage risk potential, and it has been understood that the lands with this feature are mainly concentrated in Golyeri and Pasacayiri.