Abstract

The study was carried out to understand the risks posed by earthquakes in Karonga based on roles and perception of stakeholders. Information was collected from several stakeholders who were found responding to earthquakes impacts in Karonga Town. The study found that several stakeholders, governmental and non-governmental department and organisation operate in Karonga District to respond to hazards and disasters that occur in the district however most of these stakeholders concentrate their activities in rural areas than the town despite having the town experiencing greater impacts from earthquake hazards. The study also found that people of Karonga are aware of earthquakes and how they can avoid their  impacts however their economic status fail them from developing infrastructure that can help them to avoid or recover quickly from the impacts of earthquake disasters. It is therefore concluded that the people of Karonga town are vulnerable to earthquake hazards due to limited capacity to develop appropriate infrastructure that can survive seismic hazards.

Key words: Earthquake, seismic, risk, vulnerability, capacity.