The World Bank estimated the economic cost of damage to Turkey from the earthquakes in early February at $34 billion but warned that reconstruction could cost twice that amount.
The report acknowledges that the costs of rescue and reconstruction will be much higher (than those caused by the damage), potentially twice as large and that the associated Gross Domestic Product (GDP) losses will add to this cost,” the institution explained. it’s a statement.
The development bank also warned that the successive aftershocks will surely make these estimates grow. Of the cataloged damage, a little more than half – some 18,000 million dollars – refer to the damage caused to residential buildings.
More than a million people lost their homes
The World Bank estimates that around 1.25 million people were temporarily left homeless due to damage to their homes. The institution already announced on February 9 an initial aid package of 1,780 million dollars to help in the reconstruction and rescue efforts. The earthquakes of the past day 6, of magnitude 7.7 and 7.6, have caused more than 44,000 deaths in Turkey alone. In Syria, which was also affected by the quakes, almost 6,000 deaths have been recorded.
Those extraordinarily strong tremors may have caused a readjustment of several tectonic plates that are now manifested in moderate earthquakes in neighboring areas.