Turkey-Syria earthquakes: Death toll surpasses 50,000
The death toll from the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria that struck on Feb. 6 surpassed 50,000 on Friday after Turkey declared more than 44,000 people died.
The Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) said the death toll in Turkey due to earthquakes rose to 44,218 on Friday night.
With Syria’s latest announced death toll of 5,914, the combined death toll in the two countries rose to above 50,000.
Half a million in Turkey need new homes
Erdogan’s government has endured a wave of criticism over both its response to the devastation and what many Turks say were years of non-enforcement of construction quality control.
The Turkish government’s initial plan now is to build 200,000 apartments and 70,000 village houses at a cost of at least $15 billion, he said. U.S. bank JPMorgan had estimated rebuilding houses and infrastructure will cost $25 billion.
The UNDP said it estimated that the destruction has left 1.5 million people homeless, with 500,000 new homes needed.
It said it had requested $113.5 million from the $1 billion in funds appealed for by the United Nations last week, adding that it would focus this money on clearing away mountains of rubble.
The UNDP estimates that the disaster had produced between 116 million and 210 million tons of rubble, compared with 13 million tons of rubble after the earthquake in northwest Turkey in 1999.
Turkey also issued new regulations under which companies and charities can build homes and workplaces to donate to the urbanisation ministry for people in need.
Many survivors have left the region of southern Turkey that was hit by the quake or have been settled in tents, container homes and other government-sponsored accommodation.
In Antakya, Saeed Sleiman Ertoglu, 56, loaded up what remained of his stock from his waterpipe shop that was not damaged.
“The glassware was very beautiful, more than usual, but then we had this (earthquake), and it all got ruined,” he said, after his home and shop survived the first tremors but not the later one. He estimated that just 5% of his merchandise survived.
“What can we do?,” he said. “This is an act of God, and God’s will always bears gifts.”