The main goal of the initial search-and-rescue period after strong earthqua
kes is to minimize the total number of fatalities. One important difficulty
arising in this period is to find the best assignment of available resourc
es to operational areas. For this problem a dynamic optimization model is i
ntroduced. The model uses detailed descriptions of the operational areas an
d of the available resources to calculate the resource performance and effi
ciency for different tasks related to the response. An adequate solution me
thod for the model is presented as well. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All
rights reserved.