We should pay more attention to the community context in the disaster management: lessons learned from the first days after the Khoy earthquake

On January 28, the city of Khoy (the northwest of
Iran) was struck by a strong earthquake with a
magnitude of 5.9 on the Richter scale at 21:44:44 and a
depth of 7 km, X: 45.01 and Y: 38.05 (1). This
earthquake occurred 117 kilometers from Urmia, the
capital of the West Azerbaijan Province. Over 370,000
people were affected by this earthquake, which resulted
in three deaths and more than 1,750 injuries. More than
70 villages in the area and the cities of Khoy and
Firouraq were damaged to varying degrees (2).
A few days before the earthquake, a rumor
circulated on the internet that there would be a strong
earthquake on Saturday January 29th, followed by a
magnitude 9 earthquake on February 16th. After the
earthquake, many of affected people left their homes in
the early hours and went to the cities of Salmas, Urmia,
and Tabriz. In the quake-hit area, people took shelter in
makeshift camps or tents near the destroyed homes.
Humanitarian aid arrived from all over the country
and neighboring provinces to the affected area.
Government organizations, military, religious bodies,
associations, unions, and non-governmental
organizations provided the basic needs and equipment
needed by the people of the earthquake-affected area.
However, the distribution of food and equipment
among people affected by the earthquake was
inappropriate. For instance, some donors were
providing aid directly, essential drugs were not
adequately supplied. Despite the large amount of aid
sent, a distribution aid was concentrated in some areas
and neglected in other areas, and some people did not
yet manage to receive essential items such as food,
blankets, tent heating equipmen