Abstract:

The February 6, 2023 earthquakes in Türkiye caused unprecedented disruption to regional and cross-border supply chains, particularly in logistics-intensive regions. This study examines how extreme seismic events translated into firm-level supply chain disruption and constrained recovery, focusing on the city of Hatay within the TR63 Region. Hatay occupies a strategically important position in Türkiye’s logistics system due to the presence of İskenderun Port, which connects national production networks to regional and international markets.

Building on supply chain risk, disruption, and resilience theory, the study adopts a qualitative case study approach to explore how pre-existing vulnerabilities were activated by the earthquakes and shaped post-disaster outcomes. The empirical analysis is based on semi-structured, face-to-face interviews conducted with managers from 24 firms operating in Hatay, drawn from a broader dataset of 67 firms across the TR63 Region. Interview data were analysed using thematic content analysis to identify recurring patterns and relationships among logistics, production, workforce, and financial challenges.

The findings indicate that supply chain disruption in Hatay was systemic rather than isolated, emerging through the interaction of logistics breakdowns, workforce loss, production interruptions, and financial pressures. Workforce vulnerability emerged as a central empirical theme, with reduced labour availability constraining production continuity, delaying logistics operations, and limiting firms’ recovery capacity. Rather than reporting deliberate supply chain reconfiguration decisions, firms emphasised the absence of viable alternatives under extreme disruption, suggesting that managerial agency was significantly constrained during the early recovery phase. Logistics disruptions were also found to co-occur with weaknesses in disaster preparedness, limited government support, and changes in customer demand, reinforcing a cascading pattern of disruption.

The study contributes to supply chain resilience literature by empirically highlighting workforce vulnerability as a critical but often under-emphasised dimension of disaster-related disruption. From a practical perspective, the findings suggest that resilience strategies in disaster-prone, logistics-intensive regions should move beyond infrastructure-focused interventions and adopt more integrated approaches that address labour availability, financial support mechanisms, and coordination structures. As a developmental study, the paper reports findings for Hatay only, while analysis of other cities within the TR63 Region remains ongoing.

Please choose your submission type: Developmental Paper

Primary Track: Operations, Logistics and Supply Chain Management

Keywords: Supply chain;Supply Chain: disruption, pandemic;Supply Chain: risk management;Operations;Operations: disruption, pandemic;Logistics;Logistics: disruption, pandemic

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Prof Hasan Tutar