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Modern Geomatics Technologies and Applications

characteristics (e.g., magnitude, depth, distance, time, and date) of Kerman city features in order to estimate the
rate of building damage, causalities, as well as required resources for survivors and injured people. They estimated
the required resources to help injured individuals in the affected area using building and population vulnerability
data with standard equations and formula based on Sphere Project [1]. The Sphere Project is a combination of
several groups of humanitarian non-governmental organizations, the Red Cross, and Red Crescent Movement
whose aim is to improve the quality of their humanitarian responses and to be responsible for their actions [13].
In [1], based on the presented method in the Sphere project, practically simulation of the environment is not
considered and only standard curves are used to determine the number of resources required. Rasekh and
Vafaeineghad (2014) used queueing theory to calculate the number of rescuers. They developed a GIS based
decision support system (DSS) for resource allocation in earthquake search and rescue (SAR) operation. They
first calculated the number of casualties in the area using GIS tools, then victims lined up and waited for the rescue
workers to be released [2]. In their study, dynamic simulation of the operational environment was not implemented
and no solution was provided to accurately determine the groups participating in the SAR operation.

According to the previous studies, limited research has calculated the number of rescuers and there is no research
that uses the ABM to determine the number of rescuers. On the other hand, simulation of search and rescue (SAR)
operations in the city of Tabriz has not been done so far. Therefore, the main purpose of this study is to determine
the number of rescuers in post-earthquake rescue operations using the ABM in the city of Tabriz. The first and
immediate questions aim at simulating rescuers' actions on environment and design optimal, efficient, and
adequate rescuing plans; questions like following: How should the environment be simulated and the number of
casualties calculated? How does the number of each type of rescuers affect the rescue activities? How does the
communication mode affect rescue performance? More broadly, we are interested in how an agent-based simulator
can help design new solutions to find optimal number of rescuers.

2. Study area
Tabriz is a metropolis in the northwestern region of Iran. This city is the largest economic hub of Azerbaijan region of Iran
with an area of 244.51 square kilometers (Fig. 1). According to statistical data in 2016, Tabriz was the third largest city in Iran
with a population of about 1,593,373 people. Tabriz is surrounded by mountains in three directions in the north, south, and
east, and in the west direction is bounded by the flat lands of Tabriz plain [14]. The general slope of Tabriz lands is mainly
towards the city center and the west. Iran is located in the seismic belt of the Alpine [15]. Besides, recent seismic studies in
the northwestern region of Iran showed the seismicity of Tabriz [14]. The city has faced by terrible earthquakes many times.

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