Linguistic Summarization for Analyzing Earthquake Impact: A Study on 2023 Kahramanmaraş Earthquakes in Türkiye

A disaster is an event or a series of events that greatly disrupt the usual flow of daily activity. The earthquakes that struck Kahramanmaraş in 2023 impacted eleven provinces across Türkiye. These earthquakes resulted in the deaths of over 50,000 individuals, caused destruction to more than 500,000 structures including communication and energy facilities, and resulted in substantial economic damages. This study investigated the possible use of linguistic summarization to analyze 11 provinces located in an earthquake-prone area, using data that is peculiar to these provinces. The aim of the study is to transform raw data into intricate descriptions that exhibit linguistic complexity, employing a specific technique known as linguistic summarization. The objective of this research is to examine patterns in each province by taking into account various factors, including the proportion of earthquake-affected provinces in the gross domestic product (GDP) and subsectors data, the total number of buildings in earthquake-affected provinces, data on house damage, data on disaster housing planning, the overall damage to companies by provinces, and data on the damage status of tourism facilities. The main objective of the study is to offer brief and readily understandable information about regions prone to earthquakes, so improving the comprehension of decision-makers and policymakers to enable well-informed decision-making. Analysis indicates that economic recovery may depend on sectors with limited structural damage yet significant GDP contribution, highlighting the necessity of targeted actions to alleviate the enduring effects of disruptions in real estate and the public sector.