Abstract Whether natural or fabricated, disasters strike unexpectedly. When they occur, they can cause serious disruptions in the normal way of life of the affected communities. Aftermaths of a major disaster in a society often shatter routines, disrupt jobs, and/or destroy property and people’s lives. If it were possible, disasters would be avoided at all cost because the emotional toll, financial impacts, and disruptions that they cause are very traumatic to the affected society. In line with the realisation that it is difficult to stop some hazards that cause disasters from happening, there have been sustained efforts from the international community to focus on disaster risk reduction and disaster planning. This comparative research on Turkey and Mexico presents the financial arrangement for national catastrophes in the two countries. The goal is to shed light the key measures that the two countries have put in place towards reducing and planning for the many risks that are associated with disasters. Introduction Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and Disaster Planning are efforts that are undertaken by a given community or a nation towards promoting disaster preparedness and resilience. In the event of a hazard, the losses of property, injuries, loss of lives, and disruptions to the social and economic wellbeing of the society are greatly reduced and/or eliminated altogether (Ragin, 2004). Owing to the enormous financial losses that are associated with disasters, as well as the financial resources that are required to respond and/or to lead recovery plans, financial planning has become a major tenet of the modern disaster risk reduction and disaster planning activities around the world. This comparative study of Turkey and Mexico discusses the financial planning for national disasters in the two countries with an aim of bringing to the fore the key measures that the two countries have undertaken towards ensuring disaster risk reduction and planning and hence reducing the impact of disasters whenever they occur. Country Profiles and Disaster Management Situations Turkey Turkey is the most disaster-prone country in Europe. It has a long history of natural disasters, majorly earthquakes, which have caused serious disruptions to the Turkish communities in the past (MCEER, n.d). The nation of approximately 80 million people is 80% mountainous. As Sengezer and Koa (2005) confirm, “Primary and secondary risk zones cover 66% of the country” (p. 173). Geologically, the nation lies at the boundary of the African and Arabian plates, which are both moving towards the north. Following the continuous movement of the plates, a large-scale fault line of more than 1000 kilometres referred to as the North Anatolian Fault (NAF) has formed from the eastern to the western side in the northern territory of Turkey. Along this fault line, many earthquakes have occurred in Turkey. Figure 1: Map of Turkey Showing the North Anatolian Fault (NAF) and other tectonic features Source: (Sengezer & Koa, 2005) The history of Turkey cannot be precise without a mention of major disasters that claimed thousands of lives in the 20 th century. For instance, in 1939, an earthquake struck Erzincan City that is loca