World Bank estimates Turkey earthquake damage at $34 billion

The amount is equivalent to 4 per cent of Turkey's 2021 GDP

People warm themselves next to a collapsed building in Malatya, Turkey, on February 7. AP

The devastating February 6 earthquake and aftershocks that hit southern Turkey caused damage worth more than $34 billion in the country, the World Bank has said.

That amount is equivalent to 4 per cent of Turkey's gross domestic product (GDP) last year, the Washington-based bank said in a statement, adding that the estimate does not cover the costs of reconstruction that are “potentially twice as large.”

The estimate also does not take into account the damage caused in northern Syria, which was also hit by the earthquake.

The World Bank's estimate of the damage costs there will be released soon.

The news comes as the Turkish government says it plans 400,000 new residential units across the quake zone within a year. Around 500 contractors will build the units, costing the government tens of billions of dollars, another official said. However, the government has said the new units will comply with earthquake regulations.

Environment and Urbanization Minister Murat Kurum warned construction sector representatives against raising the prices of raw materials, a senior official said.

Even before the February 6 earthquakes, house prices had surged 56 per cent year on year in January as inflation soared to its highest level in over two decades. Prices rose further in several provinces following the tremors.

The World Bank warned that the continuing aftershocks are likely to increase the total amount of damage caused by the disaster.

“This disaster serves as a reminder of Turkey's high risk of earthquakes and of the need to enhance resilience in public and private infrastructure”, said Humberto Lopez, the World Bank's Country Director for Turkey.

“As a leader in disaster risk management, the World Bank is committed to accompanying Turkey in its efforts to a disaster-resilient economic recovery”, said Mr Lopez.

The World Bank also estimates that 1.25 million people have been made temporarily homeless due to damage to residential buildings.

The report said that 81 per cent of the estimated damage occurred in Hatay, Kahramanmaraş, Gaziantep, Malatya and Adıyaman provinces, which are home to about 6.45 million people, or approximately 7.4 per cent of Turkey's population.

It added that direct damage to residential buildings accounted for 53 per cent of the estimate, with 28 per cent of damage to non-residential buildings and the rest affecting infrastructure such as roads and bridges.

On February 9, the World Bank announced an initial package of $1.78 billion in assistance to help relief and recovery efforts, including immediate assistance of $780 million via Contingent Emergency Response Components from two existing projects in Turkey and $1 billion in a new emergency recovery project to support people affected by the earthquakes.

Turkey's economic growth is expected to slow significantly to 2.8 per cent in 2023, official data showed on Tuesday.

The economy started cooling down in the second half of 2022 amid a decline in domestic and foreign demand, with exports affected by the war in Ukraine.

The news came as Turkey said it is considering prison terms for landlords found guilty of excessive rent increases after the earthquakes.

The government is weighing two-to-five-year terms, an official with knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg, adding that it hasn’t yet decided what would constitute an unacceptable increase. The official spoke privately because details of the plan haven’t been made public yet.

The death toll from the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria that struck on February 6 surpassed 50,000 on Friday after Turkey declared more than 44,000 people had died.

Another magnitude 5.6 earthquake shook southern Turkey on Monday, killing one person, injuring 69 others and causing several buildings to collapse.

About 40,000 Syrians who had fled areas affected by the quakes have returned from Turkey to rebel-held north-western Syria in the two weeks since Turkey eased restrictions on their movements, a Turkish official and a Syrian rebel official said.

The immigration was recorded at four border crossings held by Syrian armed groups opposed to Syrian President Bashar Al Assad, Mazen Alloush, a media officer at the rebel-held Bab Al Hawa border crossing with Turkey, told Reuters.