Property damage caused by a magnitude 6 earthquakeher February in Turkey “exceeds $100 billion”, according to the combined estimates of the World Bank, the UN and the European Union.
A month after the deadly quake, “it is already clear that property damage alone will amount to more than $100 billion,” Louise Winton, the UN Development Program’s representative in Turkey, said via video link from Gaziantep during a press conference.
As for the cost of restoration, “this amount will be exceeded,” Winton said.
These estimates are based on preliminary data, but the $100 billion figure is what will be presented at the March 16 donors’ conference in Brussels.
It is recalled that, according to its previous assessment, the World Bank estimated the amount of material damage at least $34 billion and the cost of reconstruction at more than $70 billion.
Faced with these sums, Louise Winton expresses her “disappointment and sadness at the lack of generosity of the donors”. Right now, the $1 billion donation call of February 16 is only 9.6 percent successful, he said.
According to estimates, which are not yet conclusive, about 46,000 people died and 105,000 were injured as a result of the February 6 earthquake in Turkey. It destroyed 214,000 buildings in 11 of the country’s 81 provinces. Some 6,000 people have died in neighboring Syria.
Source: APE-MPE, AFP, Reuters.
Source: Kathimerini
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