Turkey earthquake: Damages estimated at $34 billion, says World Bank

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

The amount is equivalent to four percent of Turkey's GDP in 2021, the Washington-based institution said, adding that the estimate does not account for the costs of reconstruction that were "potentially twice as large," a statement said.

World bank also mentions the Global Rapid Post-Disaster Damage Estimation (GRADE) Report, which focuses on the direct physical damages in Türkiye. The GRADE report says that 1.25 million have been rendered temporarily homeless.

On February 9, the World Bank announced an initial package of $1.78 billion to help relief and recovery efforts.

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

The estimate also does not take into account the damage caused in northern Syria, also particularly affected by the earthquakes, with a World Bank estimate of the costs there to be released on Tuesday.

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