In large urban centers, robust eart

In large urban centers, robust earthquake preparedness plans should be developed based on a thorough understanding of theuneven spatial distribution of capacity and demand of health services in an earthquake aftermath. Though this paper provides novel understanding on the spatial mismatch between capacity and demand and describes strategies to address it, more researchis needed to understand how the vulnerability of other criticalurban systems, such as the transportation or power system, play a role during the emergency response of the city. Robust methods for capturing the role of these urban systems have already been developed47; however, lack of exhaustive data sets with exposure and vulnerability information make such analyses prohibitive in most cities. Our emergency response assessment can help direct data collection efforts to hotspots in the city, such as to specific roads that are critical for emergency response, or specific areaswhere the city must ensure that the power supply is sustained or rapidly recovered. Effective plans will capitalize on the methodology and information provided here to better prepare cities facing high significant risk from future large earthquakes.