EARTHQUAKE AND HUMAN BEHAVIOUR

Abstract

In 1905 a big earthquake hit the northern areas of Pakistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir. This earthquake brought a big destruction for the peoples living in those areas. The earthquake killed thousands of people and left behind the widows and orphan babies and children. This disaster not only destroyed the government buildings specially the schools but also buried under them the children and working people. Hundreds of residential houses were destroyed and the thousands of people become homeless. Individual behavior is not necessarily unchanging or fixed set of characteristics not is it highly consistent in all the situations. It is in fact subject to conditions. At any time it is the function of the experiences. Though maximum stress can act as a creative, motivational force for the people but chronic or traumatic stress on the other hand, is potentially very destructive and can develop abnormal behavior by depriving people of physical and mental health, and at times even of life itself. This paper focuses on the earthquake of 2005 and the human behavior. Communities across the affected areas experienced significant disruption of basic needs and services including loss of people, shelter, electricity and potables. Individuals’ failure to cope with conditions effectively leads them to develop unhealthy perception of self and the world around. The main objective of the study was to test the human behavior in the disasters. The population of the study was all the effected areas. A sample of all people of Northern Areas and the AJK which were affected by earthquake of 2005 was included in the sample. The participant observation and interviews with the effected peoples were used for data collection. The results show that the behavioral scientists should specifically address the human side of the disaster and assess the psychosocial effects of the earthquake and design and implement intervention packages according to peoples’ accepted, model of reality.