The estimated cost of reconstruction following the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria on February 6, killing over 50,000 people, is more than $100 billion, the UN said on Tuesday.
The Turkish government estimates that more than 200,000 buildings were destroyed alongside critical infrastructure in a zone of devastation spanning 500km.
The new estimate is nearly three times that given by the World Bank a week ago, putting the reconstruction cost at $35 billion.
Louisa Vinton of the UN Development Programme said the Turkish government, with support from her organisation, the World Bank and the EU, had calculated a far higher cost of damage.
“Already it is clear that just the damages alone will amount to more than $100 billion,” she said via video link from Gaziantep in Turkey. Recovery costs will be on top of that, she added.
As many as 14 million people have been displaced or had their livelihoods severely disrupted by the earthquake.
Once completed, the estimate will be the basis for a recovery and reconstruction donor conference in Brussels next week, she said.
Recovery costs, including efforts to build improved and more environmentally sustainable infrastructure, “will obviously exceed that amount”, Ms Vinton said.
The UNDP was “very disappointed and saddened” by the response to funding appeals until now, she added.
A $1 billion flash appeal made on February 16 is currently at just 9.6 per cent of the total, she said.
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Tugay Tuncer said Turkey needs container cities to house earthquake survivors. Reuters -
Hasan Arslan and his daughter Zeynep, 14, in the container home where they live by a petrol station after being rescued from the rubble of their home in Nurdagi. Reuters -
Members of the Arslan family pray at dinner in one of the three container homes where they live. Reuters -
Mr Arslan, his wife Havva and children Saltuk and Fatmagul walk among what remains of their home, where they were trapped for five days until they were rescued. Reuters -
A woman sits in front of her tent inside a camp in the Iskenderun district of Hatay. EPA -
Children play at a playground in the Orhanli tent city following the deadly earthquake in Antakya, Hatay province. Reuters -
Earthquake survivors wait for breakfast in front of their tent inside a camp. EPA
