After the earthquake, people were living in shacks.
Old shanties line the river.
Rarely used for military barracks; the more common word is 兵舎 (へいしゃ). This sense is mostly historical or in translated contexts.
In the novel, the soldiers were quartered in old barracks.
After the war, people put up shacks on the burned-out land and lived there.
The refugees are living in cramped shacks.
Rows of makeshift shacks stood in the disaster area.