Disasters and Migration: Kahramanmaras Earthquakes

On 6th February 2023, two consecutive earthquakes occurred in our country with a magnitude of 7.8 Mw in Kahramanmaras (Pazarcik) and 7.6 Mw in Kahramanmaras (Elbistan). Due to these earthquakes and aftershocks, 48,448 people have lost their lives in Türkiye. A bi-directional and very intense population movement from/to the earthquake area after these earthquakes was observed. Knowing the residence decisions of the disaster victims is important. In the face of the “disaster of the century”, “potential or actual” disaster victims or “pseudo disaster victims”, who exhibit the behavior of disaster victims, may experience situations similar to the danger of irregular migration, which causes great problems for states in terms of international migration. Therefore, it is useful to introduce and discuss the concept of "irregular internal migration" for the first time in the literature.