Emergency Shelter After an Earthquake: What Goes Up First

Q: How much space does each person need in emergency shelter?

The UNHCR Emergency Handbook sets a minimum of 3.5 m2 of covered living space per person in tropical or warm climates, with at least 2 m of height at the lowest point. In cold climates the figure rises to 4.5 m2 to 5.5 m2 per person.

Q: How long do people stay in temporary shelter after an earthquake?

Often years. In Turkiye, 444,684 people were still in container sites at the end of May 2024, more than a year after the February 2023 earthquakes.

Tony Miller

20 hours ago

6 min read

The first shelter after an earthquake is whatever keeps people dry and out of damaged buildings, built to at least 3.5 m² of covered space per person and 2 m of height. Behind it, the structure that goes up next is the one that keeps relief stock dry and counted.

What is the standard for emergency shelter after an earthquake?

Start from the number every shelter officer is audited against. The UNHCR Emergency Handbook sets a minimum of 3.5 m² of covered living space per person in tropical or warm climates, with a minimum height of 2 m at the lowest point. Where cold weather prevails, the same entry raises the floor area to 4.5 m² to 5.5 m² per person. It also states that individual family shelter should always be preferred over communal accommodation, for privacy and psychological reasons.

An earthquake changes the planning problem more than it changes the standard. The standard assumes a household that has lost its home. After an earthquake you also have households that still own a home they cannot safely enter, and households that can enter but will not sleep under its roof. Both need shelter on the first night, and neither shows up as "displaced" in a camp register.

Why do people sleep outside after an earthquake even when their house is standing?

Because aftershocks can bring down a building the mainshock only weakened. The US Geological Survey publishes a method for estimating the risk of strong shaking from aftershocks during entry into earthquake-damaged buildings, which computes how long to wait before the risk of strong ground motion falls below a chosen threshold. The point for a shelter planner is simple: a damaged building cannot be declared safe by looking at it from the road, and until an engineer has assessed it, the people who live in it are shelter-needy.

That is why the first structure is rarely a family tent in a formal camp. It is a tarpaulin, a tent or a communal covered space on open ground next to the household's own plot, because that is where people will actually stay. Planning for a tidy site layout comes second, and it is a mistake to wait for it.

What goes up first, in what order?

In our experience supplying emergency structures from Juba, the order that works is this:

Weather protection on open ground, next to where people already are. A tarpaulin or a family tent per household, anchored properly. The IFRC and ICRC catalogue entry for the geodesic family tent describes an 18 m² tent developed jointly by ICRC, IFRC and UNHCR for a family of five, which is how it meets the 3.5 m² per person minimum. It weighs 48 kg and is specified to resist 100 km/h wind. The cheaper alternative is the 4 x 6 m tarpaulin from the same catalogue, which the catalogue recommends for individual shelter, weighs 4.2 kg and has an expected life of at least 4 years in the strongest tropical conditions.
A safe assessment of the damaged housing stock. This is not a structure, but it decides how many of the tents in step one are needed for days and how many for months.
A covered, lockable structure for relief stock, distribution and staging. A tarpaulin pile in the rain is not a store. This is the step that gets skipped, and it is where Hallgruppen frame tents, rub halls and mobile storage units earn their place, because they turn a field of tents into a supply chain with a count.
Transitional shelter for the households whose homes will not be rebuilt for a year or more.

Our view: step three should go up before the second wave of tents arrives, not after. A shelter response without covered, lockable storage has nowhere to protect stock from rain and nowhere to count it, so distribution runs on guesswork.

How long does emergency shelter after an earthquake actually last?

Far longer than the emergency phase. The Global Shelter Cluster's Türkiye earthquake factsheets record 2.6 million displaced people living in tents in the earthquake-affected provinces one month after the February 2023 earthquakes. By October 2023, 88,000 households were still in tents. By the end of May 2024, 444,684 people remained in container sites, and 82% of the shelters in the assessed sites were government-built containers rather than tents.

Read that as a budgeting lesson. A tent specified for a five-year shelf life in store is not a five-year home, and a tarpaulin rated for four years in the strongest tropical conditions is a manufacturer-side minimum rather than a field average. If the plan assumes the emergency solution disappears in three months, the programme will be paying for replacement shelter while the transitional response is still being designed.

What size and spacing should a post-earthquake site use?

If open ground is used for a planned site, the UNHCR camp planning standards give the layout rules, set out in the UNHCR camp planning standards document. The planning figure is 45 m² of site per person, of which 30 m² covers roads, sanitation, firebreaks, water points, storage and the shelter plots themselves. A 30 m firebreak is required every 300 m, with a minimum of 2 m between structures. Relief storage should be sized at 15 to 20 m² per 100 people. For a site of 20,000 people, that is 3,000 to 4,000 m² of covered storage, which is why storage belongs in the first plan and not the third.

Which shelter does SLS supply, and which does it not?

We are straightforward about this. SLS is an in-country authorised distributor of Hallgruppen structures: modular and semi-permanent warehouses, rub halls, frame tents and mobile storage units, supplied and delivered from Juba. Those are the structures in step three, and they are the ones that suit distribution hubs, relief stores and staging areas. We do not supply family tents, tarpaulins, plastic sheeting or NFI shelter kits. We write the specification guidance for them because buyers need it, and we point you to the IFRC and ICRC catalogue for the items themselves. For how structures fit into a wider shelter response, see our earlier guide to warehouse solutions for emergency shelters and our overview of why emergency shelter solutions matter. Our wider delivery record sits on the case studies page.

Frequently asked questions

How much space does each person need in emergency shelter?

The UNHCR Emergency Handbook sets a minimum of 3.5 m² of covered living space per person in tropical or warm climates, with at least 2 m of height at the lowest point. In cold climates the figure rises to 4.5 m² to 5.5 m² per person.

What type of shelter is used first after an earthquake?

Tents and tarpaulins on open ground, close to where people lived. The IFRC and ICRC geodesic family tent is 18 m², sized for a family of five, and the 4 x 6 m tarpaulin is recommended for individual shelter.

Why is it unsafe to go back into a damaged building straight away?

Aftershocks can bring down buildings already weakened by the mainshock. The USGS has published a method for estimating aftershock risk when entering earthquake-damaged buildings, based on how long to wait before strong shaking becomes unlikely.

How long do people stay in temporary shelter after an earthquake?

Often years. In Türkiye, 444,684 people were still in container sites at the end of May 2024, more than a year after the February 2023 earthquakes.

Does SLS supply tents for families?

No. SLS is an authorised distributor of Hallgruppen structures, including frame tents, rub halls and mobile storage units for storage and distribution. Family tents and tarpaulins are specified in the IFRC and ICRC catalogue.