Two Earthquakes in Turkey Killed More than 44,300

On February 6, two very large earthquakes 7.8 and 7.5 in magnitudes struck Turkey killing more than 44,300 people.  The World Bank estimated about $34.2 billion in damages, equivalent to 4% of its GDP economic output.

The hard-hit provinces include Hatay, Kahramanmaraş, Gaziantep, Malatya and Adıyaman where 81% of the damages occurred, home to 6.45 million people or 7.4% of the total population of Turkey, according to the report.

More than 1.7 million Syrian refugees or almost 50% of the total Syrian refugee population are now living in Turkey.

According to the Global Rapid Post-Disaster Damage Estimation (GRADE) Report, 1.25 million people are homeless because of the collapse and damage to their homes. The bank report found there more than 7,500 aftershocks and two additional earthquakes hit the country, the worst seen in 80 years. The recovery and reconstruction costs may double due to economic disruptions.

The World Bank announced an initial package of $1.78 billion in assistance to help relief and recovery efforts, which include the immediate assistance of $780 million via Contingent Emergency Response Components (CERCs) from two existing projects in Turkey and $1 billion in a new emergency recovery project to support people affected by this disaster.