The situation in Syria, which was also affected by the quakes, was “really catastrophic,” said Anna Bjerde, WB Group vice president for Europe and Central Asia. The entity will publish a separate estimate of the damage in Syria on Tuesday.
Bjerde noted that Turkey’s initial rapid damage assessment of $34.2 billion was equivalent to about 4% of its economic output in 2021, but that it did not include indirect or secondary impacts on the growth of its economy, nor the earthquake. Most recent one week ago.
“Our experience tells us that reconstruction needs can be between two and three times higher than the estimated direct physical damage,” he said.
The magnitude 7.8 and 7.5 earthquakes on February 6, the deadliest in Turkey’s modern history, killed more than 44,300 people.
The WB points out that after the telluric movements there were more than 7,500 aftershocks, which is the largest catastrophe of this type that has occurred in Turkey in more than 80 years.
The WB GRADE (Global Rapid Estimate of Disaster Damage) report estimates that 1.25 million people were left homeless due to damage to or complete collapse of their homes.
