Disaster Mitigation Strategies for Adobe Houses: A Case Study of District Awaran, Balochistan, Pakistan

Every year disasters affect hundreds of millions of people globally causing damage that can take years to recover from. The process of rebuilding and re-establishing is vitally important to the successful continuation of life, industry and growth of affected societies and communities. Besides human casualties one of the most visible and striking effects of any major disaster is the destruction of houses. Construction of houses will be a major activity in the reconstruction phase of a disaster. The impact of disasters caused by natural hazards such as earthquakes can have serious consequences. Vulnerable populations are faced with unforeseen hardships, misery, and death if their houses and buildings collapse, and supporting infrastructure is severely damaged. Awaran District, Balochistan is one the least developed areas of Pakistan with very low Human development index (HDI). In 2013, an earthquake of Mw 7.7 occurred in the region, causing damage to the houses and human lives. The study covers the findings of the field survey for the damages occurred to the adobe houses in Awaran due to earthquake and analyse the causes of failure of the structures. It further suggests the design strategies and measures for the mitigation and prevention against these damages in order to decrease the loss to housing stock and lower the risks to human life due to failure of structures during earthquake.