Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Natural Hazards, cilt.122, sa.1, 2026 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
This exploratory, qualitative case study investigates the volunteer response to the 2023 Kahramanmaraş earthquakes through a SWOT analysis, focusing on the perspectives of both volunteers and coordinators. It includes in-depth interviews and field observations involving a purposeful sample (n = 21) of participants actively engaged in volunteer coordination activities. This focused approach provides deep, contextual insights into the structured response, rather than a generalisable overview of all volunteer activities. Based on observations and interviews, the study identifies significant strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats in volunteer management. MAXQDA Analytics Pro 2024 was employed to analyse data. The findings suggest various strengths, including organizability, a large number of volunteers, extensive communication, a spirit of solidarity, and representation of different professional groups. However, participants reported significant weaknesses, including a lack of training, inadequate coordination, continuity issues, and challenges in disaster area security and logistics. Participants identified essential opportunities to enhance volunteer mobilisation, particularly in relation to the young population, NGO collaborations, training opportunities, and new technologies. Nevertheless, persistent threats included uncontrolled volunteering, cultural conflicts, malicious actors, and inadequate management. Based on these results, the study proposes four strategic recommendations to strengthen voluntary disaster response systems in Türkiye and similar contexts, maximising resilience and preparedness towards possible catastrophes.