Postdisaster Evacuation Scenarios Using Multiagent System

Due to the possible human and material losses caused by extreme disasters such as earthquakes, risk-management measures are always necessary to reduce or avoid potential damage, to respond promptly and provide assistance to victims, and to achieve effective recovery. This paper describes a multiagent system designed at a mesoscopic level that models the evacuation behavior of people in immediate postemergency situations. Several scenarios are analyzed for the city of Iai, Romania, which has a high seismic vulnerability because of a large number of old buildings. Three critical bridges are assumed to be subjected to different degrees of damage. The results of the simulation, such as the time needed for the people to reach available shelters or the routes taken by different groups of people, can provide valuable information to decision-makers, which can be used to reinforce critical infrastructure and to provide recommendations for the optimization of the evacuation process. The emergency evacuation software can be easily adapted for case studies of other urban areas.