Institutional framework, key stakeholders and community preparedness for earthquake induced disaster management in Balochistan

Purpose - Balochistan is one of the earthquake disaster prone areas in Pakistan. Earthquakes adversely affect people and their economy, therefore disaster preparedness especially at the community level is imperative to avoid future damages. The purpose of this paper is to examine the issues associated with community preparedness in earthquake prone areas and recommend upgrading the community preparedness, and improving coordination between provincial and national agencies during disasters and seismic emergencies. Design/methodology/approach - The study is based on field visits. Observations, key informant interviews and group discussions were conducted to analyze the preparedness, both at community and organizational levels. Findings - Disaster impacts are still handled by provincial level organizations in Balochistan. Disaster management authorities do not implement any activities related to preparedness at local levels, and focus more on reactive and top-down approaches. On the other hand, community is vulnerable to multiple hazards associated with earthquakes. The study reveals that the available institutional framework does not meet community needs. Both the government institutes and communities are not well prepared, therefore communities get affected from time to time due to earthquake hazards in Balochistan. Practical implications - Disaster management authorities should implement projects and activities at the local levels to empower communities for disaster preparedness and for disaster risk reduction. Originality/value - The paper concludes that for efficient preparedness the coordination should be improved between the provincial and national level agencies and community preparedness needs to be enhanced for upgrading people's awareness and defensive mechanism for safeguarding their lives with reference to seismic emergencies.