The two large earthquakes that struck Turkey on February 6 caused some $34.2 billion in direct physical damagebut the total costs of reconstruction and recovery that the country faces could be doubled The World Bank reported on Monday.
Humberto López, director of the WB for Turkey, told the press that the earthquakes would also reduce the forecast growth of the Turkish Gross Domestic Product, which would be between 3.5% and 4% in 2023.
The situation in Syria, which was also affected by the earthquakes, was “really catastrophic” said Anna Bjerde, World Bank Group Vice President for Europe and Central Asia. The entity will publish a separate estimate of the damage in Syria on Tuesday.
Photo: Reuters
Bjerde indicated that the initial rapid assessment of damages for Turkey, of 34.2 billion dollars, andequivalent to about 4% of its economic production in 2021, but that did not include the indirect or secondary impacts on the growth of its economy, nor the most recent earthquake of a week ago.
“Our experience tells us that reconstruction needs can become between two and three times higher than the estimated direct physical damage”he claimed.
The magnitude 7.8 and 7.5 earthquakes on February 6, the deadliest in Turkey’s modern history, killed more than 50,000 people.
Photo: Reuters
According to the WB, after the telluric movements there were more than 7 thousand 500 aftershocks, This is the biggest catastrophe of its kind in Turkey in more than 80 years.
The WB GRADE (Global Rapid Estimate of Disaster Damage) report estimates that 1.25 million people were left homeless due to damage to or complete collapse of their homes.
Reference-aristeguinoticias.com
