Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Pakistan Earthquake'

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1995.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 151-152).
In the Fall of 1993, a joint project began between architectural designers and engineers, for the design of houses in Karimabad, located in the Northern Areas of Pakistan. This thesis records the author's involvement as structural engineer, and how quantitative engineering work was shaped by qualitative considerations of architectural design issues, and the unique culture of Karimabad. The broad range of structural design challenges in the area was assessed, and included earthquake loading, cultural precedents for building types and spatial use (i.e. live loads on the roofs), material availability, and appropriate technologies. Seismic loads were the main structural concern, and the behavior of single story, masonry buildings under seismic loads was investigated. Houses constructed from reinforced stone masonry with a timber roofing system were selected as the most appropriate technology for the region. Processes to quantify the necessary wall reinforcement were found and developed, and one architectural design was engineered to illustrate these processes, and to gain a general idea of how much steel would be needed in one house. Construction guidelines for all parts of a house, including roofs and foundations, were also researched and developed. The teamwork between architects and engineers throughout this project was evaluated and discussed. Principles of effective interaction that were learned, and the exchanges that occurred between the architects and engineers in the course of this project, are presented. The purpose of this record is to help future projects, between architects and engineers, to achieve a working relationship which effectively synthesizes the two professions, and produces better designs.
by Jimmy Chi-yi Su.
M.S.

The traditional standing in the practice of negotiation which is main concerned with the substance of the proposal for a solution has been somewhat altered by Zartman who do acknowledge the importance of the first idea but adds the dimension of the timing of the efforts for a resolution. Throughout the schools of crisis management and conflict resolution this concept has made its name as the ‘ripeness theory’. The focal point of the theory is termed as the ‘Mutually Hurting Stalemate’ (MHS), a situation where the conflicting parties sense their positions in a hurting impasse.

The concept of a ripe moment does not only centre on the parties’ perception of a MHS but is optimally associated with an impending, past or recently avoided catastrophe. Even though the catastrophe is not necessary to either the definition or the existence of a MHS it provides a deadline or a lesson that pain can be sharply increased in something is not done about it now. This in linked with the idea behind the concept that, when the parties find themselves locked into a conflict from which they cannot escalate to victory and this deadlock is painful to them (although not necessarily in equal degrees or for the same reasons), they seek a way out.

A unique opportunity presented itself when a earthquake struck the areas between India and Pakistan the 8th of October 2005. Did the post-quake scenario present a new opportunity to collaborate on immediate relief activity and long-term build up? Could suspicion be buried with the wreckage? Could the disaster be a push to intensify the peace process?

The aim of this study is to find out if the disaster has made the conflict ripe for resolution or more advanced mediation. The empirical chapters is going down two avenues including the political elites (and their actions) as well as the internal political process which in this study is made up by a) the militancy, and b) editorials from major Pakistani and Indian newspapers.

The results of the study can be summed with that the earthquake has not made the conflict ripe for resolution (as in final resolution) but definitely made it ripe for more advanced mediation. This is based on the numerous important counter building measures carried out by the elites of India and Pakistan and the fact that the Kashmiri people were involved in the process. As for the internal political process the militancy did not show any will of collaborate or changing position in the conflict. The results of the newspaper’s editorials is not entirely positive either although both Pakistan and Indian newspapers had a rather positive outlook towards the increased Indo-Pak cooperation and the prospects for the future.

The devastation in the recent events of Kashmir (2005), Chengdu (200S) and Haiti (20 I 0) highlights the need for earthquake risk assessment (ERA) in developing countries. Kythreoti (2002) at the University of Sheffield, worked on the development of an ERA framework called EQ-RACY that was applied to Cyprus. It was concluded that a more comprehensive framework is needed to account for variable seismicity, tsunami, landslides, rockfalls, liquefaction, as well as for non-residential structures. It was also suggested to develop the ERA framework in a geographic information system (GIS) environment, and to develop more representative vulnerability assessments. This led to a project at the University of Sheffield to produce a comprehensive ERA framework for developing countries. The task is overwhelmingly huge for a single PhD project; therefore, the work is undertaken as a series of PhD projects. This thesis presents the development of the generic ERA framework for the project. The first aim of the work was the development of the probabilistic seismic hazard assessment (PSHA) methodology. The PSHA methodology by Kythreoti was enhanced to incorporate large magnitude earthquakes and historical seismicity to suit the diverse seismo-tectonics of other parts of the world. In many developing countries statistics on building stock are not readily available. Satellite imagery may be used as an alternative to field building surveys, but the current methods are not very reliable, need further enhancement, and are not very cost effective. A simple method is developed in this research for cost effective and rapid building stock assessments using medium resolution satellite imagery and minimal field sampling. The results of the new PSHA methodology are compared with previous studies. The risk results obtained for the district of Abbottabad in Pakistan after the Kashmir (2005) earthquake are 22% higher than damage estimated from observed data. Considering the fact that damage estimates from government data tend to underestimate damage, the results are considered reasonable. The spatial distribution of damage compared well with observed damage data. The ERA framework is applied to a study region between Islamabad and Peshawar within Pakistan and risk mitigation strategies are recommended. The study region is divided into 4 seismic zones and the assessed average annual insurance premiums were £3.9, £7.S, £12.7 and £ IS.9 per £ 1000. Under the present circumstances for preparedness, it is recommended that the government makes a contingency plan of approximately £600 million to cover residential loss, 31,000 deaths and 40,000 injuries. The study revealed that enforcement of seismic regulations can reduce monetary and life losses by 60% and 77% respectively, whereas seismic retrofitting can reduce monetary and life losses by 50% and 67% respectively. Appropriate response and recovery measures can reduce the loss of life by 39%.

Geodetic observations are commonly used to make inferences about the rheology of the lower crust and mantle, frictional properties of faults, and the structure of the Earth following an earthquake. On 24 September 2013, an Mw 7.7 earthquake ruptured a 200 km segment of the Hoshab fault in southern Pakistan. The Hoshab fault is located in the Makran accretionary prism, one of the widest emergent accretionary prisms on Earth. Interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) time series observations beginning 15 months after the 2013 earthquake capture a large displacement transient in the hanging wall of the Hoshab fault. Using simulations of viscoelastic relaxation and inversions for afterslip along five candidate fault geometries, I find that afterslip alone cannot account for the displacement observed in time series. Instead, I find that the observations can be explained by viscoelastic relaxation of a mechanically weak (viscosity on the order of 1017-1018 Pa s), shallow (>6 km) weak layer within the accretionary prism. First order results indicate this weak layer is between 8-12 km thick with a power law (n=3.5) rheology, and that viscoelastic relaxation is accommodated by dislocation creep at low temperatures. The weak nature of the Makran accretionary wedge may be driven by high pore fluid pressure from hydrocarbon development and underplated sediments.

This thesis investigates the psychosocial issues and lived experiences of adolescent girls and young women after the 2005 Pakistan earthquake. It explores the coping strategies they adopted during the disaster and in the long recovery phase, presenting their psychosocial issues, disaster lived experiences, and personal transformations. The context of study is the growth of interest in mental health and disasters but the gap and lack of any major focus on gender and adolescent girls’ knowledge and experience provides a particular impetus for the study. The research study adopted an interpretive phenomenological methodology (IPA) that quickly expanded beyond the individual scale of internalized self to encompass the wider social domain. This study deployed mixed research methods to explore adolescent girls’ life-world such as semi- structured interviews, narrative interviews, field notes, researcher’s journal, participant observations and timeline drawing. The techniques of data collection included interviews through different sources of media such as skype, emails, WhatsApp. These methods also aided as a therapeutic tool for the participants by allowing them an opportunity to know and understand their existence and life-world through in-depth interviews. The data of this thesis is based on 70 qualitative interviews conducted largely in the rural areas of Chipa village and Muzzaffarabad city. The interviews were largely conducted in rural areas, but a series of interviews were done in urban areas to allow understanding and clarity of the rural culture. While not a meaningful sample in a statistical sense, the qualitative urban analysis allows for conclusion about the non-cultural movements of rural areas. The methodological approach was to draw on clinical experience, as a psychologist and frame that discussion in the human hermeneutics of lifeworld analysis. This considered the individual in their own setting including the constraints provided by family regulations and community norms under Islamic culture. The study provides a new understanding of the unmet needs, lived experiences and psychosocial issues of adolescent girls and young women over the seven years between the earthquake and the field research. It highlights the strategies adopted, which in some cases have led to post-traumatic growth and in others to a continuing anxiety about the hazardous and socially constraining environment they inhabit. It presents life-world snapshots in the form of holistic narratives. The study also provides a theoretical and conceptual framework for adolescent people in disasters particularly in context of age and gender. It is crucial to have an adequate balance amongst the four components of life-world to ensure psychosocial wellbeing. The study offers recommendations for local agencies, NGOs and INGOs to inform their policy and practice by recommending greater levels of assistance and revision in their policies concerning adolescent girls and young women. The conclusion of this research study is that suffering through the disaster trauma and uncertainty is mainly part of an individual’s life-world; considering their living standards and wellbeing. Mainly these components are; Psychological Self, Home-Family, Community and Beyond Community. Having a better understanding and awareness of self and self-care leads to better psychosocial wellbeing. At the same time, adequate amount of support, care and love from family members including parents, siblings and relatives is therapeutic in wake of trauma. Community and Beyond Community plays a vital role in psychosocial wellbeing of adolescents and young women in particular. Provided enough socializing opportunities, regular participation post disaster activities and home reconstruction only leads to psychosocial resilience. This is evident from the finding chapters discussed and analysed thoroughly above, that all of these four components are crucial to draw upon the psychosocial resilience resulting in wellbeing and self-awareness of young women. The study offers recommendations for local agencies, NGOs and INGOs to inform their policy and practice by recommending greater levels of assistance and revision in their policies concerning adolescent girls and young women. This could only be possible by listening to their voices, their issues, and lived experiences. It can always develop new opportunities to deal with the issues of the adolescent girls and young women by being mindful of various ways to deal with their uncertainties.

The Makran subduction zone (offshore Pakistan and Iran) has the largest accretionary prism of any margin worldwide, formed due to the thick incoming sediment section of up to 7.5 km. This margin has been relatively understudied, and this thesis presents a new, detailed structural and hydrological interpretation and seismogenic hazard assessment for the Makran. The accretionary prism is dominated by simple, imbricate thrusts which form seaward verging, anticlinal ridges up to 200 km long. The prism has a low average taper angle of 4.5°. Two oceanic basement features intersect the deformation front: The Little Murray Ridge (LMR), a discontinuous, largely buried seamount chain, and the Murray Ridge, a large transtensional ridge. The subduction of the LMR causes an increase in fault spacing, a seaward step in the position of the deformation front, and may segment earthquake rupture. The Murray Ridge influences the incoming sediment stratigraphy and reduces sediment thickness in the east. Fault activity in the Makran is widely distributed within the prism, with over 75% of faults showing some evidence for recent activity. This may be the result of the high levels of frontal accretion causing the Makran to behave as a sub-critical prism. The décollement in the outer prism occurs within the sediment section and is unreflective. There is extensive evidence for fluid and fluid migration in the Makran, with a widespread hydrate BSR, high amplitude gas zones in the shallow sediment, reflective fault sections (indicating high porosity and likely high pore pressure), and surface seeps. The spatial distribution of these features appears to be controlled by changes in the incoming section and fault activity, and significant fluids are trapped within anticlinal hinge zones. Reflective fault sections are concentrated in the upper sediments, and there is no evidence for a significant fluid contribution from the deeper (>4 km) sediment section. This may indicate that the lower sediment section is largely dehydrated, prior to accretion. The Makran experiences low seismicity compared to many global subduction zones, but produced a Mw8.1 tsunamigenic earthquake in 1945. Thermal modelling suggests that temperatures at the plate boundary are over 150°C at the deformation front due to the thick sediment section. These results suggest that the plate boundary may have the potential to be seismogenic to shallow depths. Thermal modelling also indicates that the shallow dip of the subducting plate produces a wide potential seismogenic zone, which when combined with along-strike rupture scenarios produces potential earthquake magnitudes of Mw8.7-9.2 with significant regional hazard implications.

On October 8th 2005 the villages surrounding Chinati bazaar in Bagh district of Pakistani-administered Kashmir (PaK) were hit by an earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale that affected the lives of more than 3.5 million people in PaK and Khyber Pukhtunkhwa. In this thesis I attempt to understand, through the stories and narratives of the people of Chinati bazaar, how they lived through, made sense of, and dealt with the earthquake and its aftermath. I use participant observation and conversations to tell the stories of those affected by the earthquake in their own voices as much as possible. The storytellers of the bazaar lived through two types of events: the earthquake itself and the post-earthquake rehabilitation and reconstruction process. The latter brought with it both positive and negative impacts: if, on the one hand, it brought progress and a new hope that life could be ‘Built Back Better', on the other hand, it brought a different type of suffering – one that led to a loss of honour and dignity, resulted in social upheavals, and led to the exclusion and marginalization of certain groups. In this thesis I focus on both these ‘events'. Through these stories I build an argument about post-disaster discourses of change. I argue that while the narratives of the storytellers of Chinati bazaar posit the earthquake as a point of rupture in their confabulated stories, from which the collective memory of the bazaar dates its movement towards becoming modern and global, these changes have their origins instead in ‘bigger' stories of modernisation and globalisation that predate the earthquake and that highlight and emphasise more continuous processes of change that have been occurring over a longer period of time. In this thesis I analyse how these two competing discourses of rupture and dramatic change on the one hand, and slow, continuous change on the other, play out in the lives of the storytellers of Chinati Bazaar.

Adverse post-natural disaster outcomes in low-income regions, like elevated internal migration levels and low consumption levels, are the result of market failures, poor mechanisms for stabilizing income, and missing insurance markets, which force the affected population to respond, and adapt to the shock they face. In a spatial environment, with multiple locations with independent but interconnected markets, these transitions quickly become complex and highly non-linear due to the feedback loops between the micro individual-level decisions and the meso location-wise market decisions. To capture these continuously evolving micro-meso interactions, this paper presents a spatially explicit bottom-up agent-based model to analyze natural disaster-like shocks to low-income regions. The aim of the model is to temporally and spatially track how population distributions, income, and consumption levels evolve, in order to identify low-income workers that are "food insecure". The model is applied to the 2005 earthquake in northern Pakistan, which faced catastrophic losses and high levels of displacement in a short time span, and with market disruptions, resulted in high levels of food insecurity. The model is calibrated to pre-crisis trends, and shocked using distance-based output and labor loss functions to replicate the earthquake impact. Model results show, how various factors like existing income and saving levels, distance from the fault line, and connectivity to other locations, can give insights into the spatial and temporal emergence of vulnerabilities. The simulation framework presented here, leaps beyond existing modeling efforts, which usually deals with macro long-term loss estimates, and allows policy makers to come up with informed short-term policies in an environment where data is non-existent, policy response is time dependent, and resources are limited.

Canada coordinates its responses to natural disasters abroad through implementing its ‘whole-of-government’ policy framework. The two largest natural disasters that struck in 2010 were the January earthquake in Haiti and the flooding in Pakistan seven months later. In contrast to the fast and robust earthquake relief provided to Haiti, Canada’s response to the Pakistan floods was minimal, especially when considering the extent of damage sustained. This dissertation applies a public administration lens to trace factors that led to the Government of Canada’s 2010 disaster-relief decisions. It develops a multi-level theoretical framework to holistically explore the role of problem-definition in shaping decision-making. It applies historical institutionalism at the macro level; recognizes the role of case-specific details and arenas at the meso level; and uses the logic of appropriateness to identify informal institutions affecting individual action at the micro level. Analysis of interviews, government documents and media coverage indicates that bureaucratic actors involved in the whole-of-government approach recognize that their role is ultimately removed from final disaster-relief decisions. There is an informal acceptance that political will, more than needs in the disaster-affected region, shapes implementation decisions. Consequently, technical assessment is inadvertently affected, and recommendations reflect what is deemed most in line with ministerial disposition to assist. The primary motivators for Government of Canada action are found to be the gaining of public support or the need to subdue targeted criticisms. Findings indicate that as a result of its media appeal, there was a strong incentive for the deployment of military assets in response to the earthquake in Haiti, even when doing so was not in the best interest of the affected region. Where Canada could respond only with non-military means, there was less incentive for action. This leads to supply-driven relief rather than a needs-based humanitarian response. With the developed theoretical framework, process-mapping and media analysis methodologies, and the actor-centred approach adopted, the dissertation makes theoretical and empirical contributions to existing public administration literature on decision-making and problem definition. It also presents a hitherto unexplored perspective on donor behaviour for consideration by international relations and development scholars.

This study deals with the distinct difference in media attention the earthquake-disaster in Haiti and the flood-disaster in Pakistan got in 2010. There may be many reasons to this divergence, but this study focuses on how news articles can create compassion.    This study, with its critical perspective, examines how two daily papers in Sweden portray the suffering of the victims of the catastrophes in Haiti and Pakistan, and create compassion for them. Furthermore it asks the question who benefits from the newspaper’s description of human suffering in the third world.    The result shows that the manner of which Swedish daily newspapers report from the catastrophe in Haiti creates an emotional involvement, which most likely leads to compassion. Furthermore it shows potential to lead the readers to identify with the suffering people in Haiti.    The Swedish daily newspapers report of the catastrophe in Pakistan on the other hand, does not involve the reader on an emotional level, but gives them the role of a spectator. However the result also indicates that the distance between the victim and the reader is reducing. In that remark the report have potential to create compassion for the victims in Pakistan, although it is more likely that this does not occur.    In conclusion the study shows that the Swedish daily newspapers report of the catastrophes in Haiti and Pakistan is embedded in an ideology, which reproduces a global hierarchy of suffering by reproducing the construction of an Us and Them. In addition this study reveals a social conception of the West as more worthy compassion than the third world, and therefore the Swedish daily newspapers report of the catastrophes reproduces the West’s dominance and power in the society.

This thesis is aimed at exploring the relation of socio-cultural characteristics and policies with post-quake reconstruction of rural areas of Azad Jammu & Kashmir, Pakistan. The primary concern of the study is limited to examine the traditional architectural practice ; dhajji-dewari and social composition of the community during and after reconstruction. It is analyzed that how the socio-cultural aspects of rural communities are affected by the policies, how policies are affected by the socio-cultural aspects of the community and how both of these can influence the final product. The thesis was rooted in the fact that 80% of the 600,000 damaged/destroyed buildings during 8th October, 2005 Kashmir earthquake were rural temporary (Katcha) houses. It was hence to be investigated that how far the Rural Housing Reconstruction Program (RHRP) has reduced (or increased) the vulnerability of the area for future. The impact of any policy launched during this program was not limited to few housing units rather more than 0.1 million dhajji houses could be affected through this. The rural Kashmir reconstruction was commenced with the in-hand knowledge of several previous post-quake reconstruction programs and was appreciated widely by experts. It was yet to be explored that which mistakes were committed/repeated by the stakeholders during policy making, delivery, implementation and post implementation phases. Covering the phases of policy making, delivery and implementation, the major findings of the thesis are categorized into three sections ; the sustainability generating aspects of reconstruction, vulnerability enhancing dimensions of reconstruction, and, those outcomes of reconstruction which are not yet categorized under "sustainability" or "vulnerability" by the experts focusing particularly rural Kashmir. Community satisfaction is given primary focus to rate different outcomes.The study concludes that ignoring socio-cultural aspects of the community during reconstruction may lead to vulnerability in post-reconstruction scenario. Considering the post implementation phase, the current trends are observed by examining under-construction houses. By pictorially presenting the architectural details of these houses it is examined that deviations from guidelines are in practice. People start forgetting the disaster impacts after few years and their immediate needs drive their decision priorities. It is suggested that after reconstruction program ends up, some authorities must be present in the reconstructed area to guide people for their current requirements and future needs and also to control the spread of non compliant construction.

Dans ce travail, nous souhaitons montrer l’atout de l’imagerie satellite pour contraindre et modéliser la déformation tectonique. Cette dernière représente la signature du comportement des failles et est un élément clé pour comprendre leur mécanique et les risques associés. Plus particulièrement, nous souhaitons montrer le bénéfice 1) de la combinaison d’images satellite optiques et radar pour mesurer la déformation cosismique en 3D et modéliser les caractéristiques des failles (géométrie et glissement) et 2) de l’utilisation d’images satellite historiques pour étendre la couverture temporelle des mesures et quantifier des déformations lentes. Le séisme du Balochistan fut largement décrochant senestre, avec une composante de chevauchement secondaire. En combinant des images satellite optiques (SPOT 5, Landsat 8) et radar (RADARSAT-2, TerraSAR-X ScanSAR), nous calculons le champ de déformation cosismique complet en 3D ainsi que la distribution de glissement en surface. Cet ensemble de données nous permet également d’explorer la géométrie de faille et la distribution du glissement en profondeur. Certains segments de la faille décrochant de Chaman (Pakistan) sont sujets à du glissement superficiel asismique de l’ordre d’un cm/an. Nous présentons l’avancement actuel d’un projet en cours dont le but est de mesurer un tel glissement à partir d’images historiques Corona. La procédure d’acquisition atypique de ces images et le manque de métadonnées impose une réévaluation de la chaîne de traitement photogrammétrique. Nous présentons donc un modèle de caméra et une méthode automatisée de génération de Points d’Appui à partir d’images SPOT 6/7, nous permettant de calibrer le modèle de caméra
In this work we aim to illustrate the asset of satellite imagery to constrain and model tectonic deformation. Tectonic deformation is a signature of faults behavior and is a key element to understand fault systems mechanics and the corresponding hazard. We especially intend to demonstrate the benefit of 1) combining satellite optical and radar data to measure coseismic deformations in 3D and provide constraints to model the geometric and cinematic properties of faults and 2) enhance the temporal coverage of measurements by using historical satellite images to quantify slow deformation over time. The Balochistan earthquake was dominated by left-lateral slip, with a secondary reverse component. By combining optical (SPOT 5, Landsat 8) and radar satellite data (RADARSAT-2, TerraSAR-X ScanSAR), we derive the full 3D coseismic displacement field and the slip distribution at the surface. Such an extensive dataset allows us to explore the fault geometry and the slip distribution at depth. A few segments of the strike-slip Chaman fault, in Pakistan, are prone to shallow aseismic creep at a rate of ~1cm/yr. We present the current status of an ongoing project that aims to enable creep rate measurements from Corona historical images. Both the atypical acquisition procedure of these images (panoramic pushbroom) and the lack of metadata impose a reassessment of part of the photogrammetric processing. We thus present an implementation of a camera model and a fully automated method to compute Ground Control Points for Corona images using current SPOT 6/7 imagery, allowing for calibrating the camera model

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This study explores HA/DR operations and the associated response of the international community during the recent earthquake in Haiti and flood in Pakistan in 2010. A powerful earthquake of magnitude 7.0 hit Haiti on January 12, causing great damage and mass casualties. The international community responded swiftly and took over relief efforts in the country saving a lot of lives. Handsome donations were also given and committed. Pakistan suffered heavy floods that started in the end of July 2010 and affected nearly the entire country. Loss of life was not very great, but infrastructure damage and people subsequently affected surpassed the combined total of the 2004 Tsunami, Haiti earthquake and 2005 South Asia earthquake. During this disaster the international community, particularly volunteer technologists, were not mobilized the way they were in Haiti. Donations were made late and comparatively slow. No single country can handle a large-scale natural disaster like the two exemplar cases chosen for this thesis, and hence the role of the international community is very important. Such response has not been equitable in the past and it is the goal of this research to find ways to make it more equitable in the future.

Qabil Ajmeri (an Urdu poet) once wrote: وقت کرتاهے پرورش برسوں حادثہ ایک دم نہيں ھوتا Translation: Time nurtures for years Accident is never sudden Same is true for disasters; they just don’t happen suddenly. It is our actions (or inaction in certain cases) over the years that turn a hazard into a disaster. Development policies, governance system, disaster management system, poverty, and level of hazard are some of the most important factors that contribute towards disaster vulnerability. Most of the developing countries suffer higher disaster losses (as compared to the developed countries) due to their inability to properly address these factors. Societies need to have better development policies, good governance, efficient disaster management system, and improved livelihoods to minimise disaster vulnerability. Conducted from the positionality (Robinson 2014) of a victim of the earthquake and an important functionary of the post-2005 earthquake reconstruction programme in AJK, this research is an auto-ethnographic study in order to understand how societies become vulnerable to natural disasters and what role post-disaster housing reconstruction can play in addressing this vulnerability. By loosely following Blaikie et al.’s (1994) ‘Pressure and Release’ (PAR) model and Collins’ (2009) “disaster and development approach”, this research attempts to find what factors made people vulnerable to seismic hazard in AJK and turned an otherwise not so big Mw=7.6 earthquake into one of the deadliest environmental disasters in the world. The performance and impact of the post-2005 earthquake housing reconstruction program is evaluated in this study by using the mixed-methods research approach. The study finds that the sustainability of the seismic resistant construction and continuation of the pre-earthquake vulnerability factors are still issues. Till the time issues mentioned in this study are not addressed properly, communities in general and the study area in particular will remain vulnerable to environmental disasters.