The obligations of municipalities within the scope of disaster management and their financial liability: An assessment focused on earthquake hazard

Earthquakes that resulting in disasters have been causing casualties and property in our country for over a century, and it has not been possible to prevent an earthquake, a natural hazard, from turning into a disaster. Although the approach that embraced post-disaster intervention and recovery with the concept of "wound bandaging" shifted to the "no harm" approach after the 1999 Marmara earthquakes, the "no harm" approach could not be implemented or adopted despite the establishment of AFAD and the changes made in the legislation. This was painfully revealed with the transformation of the February 6, 2023 Kahramanmaraş earthquakes resulting in a disaster. In the context of disaster management, local administrations are considered as key actors in the changing perspective towards "no harm". According to article 127/1 of the Constitution, local administration are public legal entities established to cater to the common local needs of the population, being the public institutions closest to the region's geography and its people, they can play a paramount role in disaster management. Therefore, our study highlights on the duties, authorities and financial responsibilities of municipalities in preventing the turning into of an earthquake, a natural hazard, into a disaster. The failure of municipalities to fulfill these duties and authorites, or their inadequate or delayed fulfillment of it, is an issue that should be evaluated within the framework of the institution of administrative responsibility.