“According to the initial data, a total of 1.6 trillion liras damage was determined. On the other hand, a total loss of 351.4 billion TL occurred due to the decrease in national income in addition to the emergency support and expenditures made to the earthquake area, debris removal activities, insurance payments, loss of income payments, all other supports and expenditures,” the ministry said.

“The cost of the disaster of the century to our country is approximately 2 trillion liras (103.6 billion dollars), which corresponds to approximately 9 percent of our national income expectation for 2023 and shows that we have material damage and losses approximately 6 times more than the 1999 Marmara Earthquake,” the ministry added.

On February 6, a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck southern Turkey and northern Syria.

There were about 50,000 deaths and over 108, 000 people were injured across the ten most affected provinces in Turkey, including some casualties also in adjacent Elazığ and Batman provinces.

At least 13.5 million people and 4 million buildings have been affected. Thousands were trapped under rubble when buildings collapsed.

The Ministry of Environment, Urbanization, and Climate Change conducted damage inspections for 763,000 buildings; at least 41,791 buildings in 10 Turkish provinces were heavily damaged or destroyed, leaving about 150,000 people homeless. (ILKHA)