The material damage caused by the earthquake in Turkey alone “exceeds 100 billion dollars,” according to a summary calculation by the World Bank, the UN, the European Union and the Turkish government.
A month after the earthquake, which killed around 46,000 people on the Turkish side, “it is already clear that the material damage alone will amount to more than $100 billion,” said Louisa Vinton, director of the United Nations program for Turkey Development Program (UNDP) via video conference from Gaziantep during a regular UN briefing in Geneva.
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“The cost of rebuilding and everything related to rebuilding better and greener will obviously still exceed that amount,” Ms Vinton stressed.
An assessment not yet final
Those estimates are still based on preliminary data, but the $100 billion damage figure will be presented at a pledging support conference to be held in Brussels on March 16, Ms Vinton said.
Faced with such huge amounts, Ms Vinton expressed her “disappointment and sadness” at the donors’ lack of generosity. Currently, the $1 billion emergency appeal launched Feb. 16 is only 9.6% covered, she said.
The February 6 earthquake, with a magnitude of 7.8, followed by another nine hours later with a magnitude of 7.6, killed nearly 46,000 people and injured 105,000, according to non-definitive reports in Turkey. It also demolished or condemned 214,000 buildings, sometimes more than 10 stories high, in 11 of Turkey’s 81 provinces.
According to the authorities, almost 6,000 people have also died in Syria.
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