Optimization of Humanitarian Aid Distribution in Case of an Earthquake and Tsunami in the City of Iquique, Chile

Antonia Ilabaca, Germán Paredes-Belmar and Pamela P. Alvarez
Additional contact information
Antonia Ilabaca: Graduate Program, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, Valparaíso 2362807, Chile
Germán Paredes-Belmar: School of Industrial Engineering, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, Valparaíso 2362807, Chile
Pamela P. Alvarez: Department of Engineering Sciences, Universidad Andres Bello, Santiago 7500971, Chile

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 2, 1-16

Abstract: In this paper, we introduce, model, and solve a clustered resource allocation and routing problem for humanitarian aid distribution in the event of an earthquake and subsequent tsunami. First, for the preparedness stage, we build a set of clusters to identify, classify, sort, focus, and prioritize the aid distribution. The clusters are built with k -means method and a modified version of the capacitated p -median model. Each cluster has a set of beneficiaries and candidate delivery aid points. Second, vehicle routes are strategically determined to visit the clusters for the response stage. A mixed integer linear programming model is presented to determine efficient vehicle routes, minimizing the aid distribution times. A vulnerability index is added to our model to prioritize aid distribution. A case study is solved for the city of Iquique, Chile.

Keywords: disaster management; vehicle routing; clustering (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/2/819/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/2/819/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:2:p:819-:d:722763

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().