Devastating Earthquakes in Southern Türkiye and Northern Syria, October 15th, 2023, Situation Report 28 [EN/TR] – Türkiye

1. Developments

Eight months have passed since the 7.7 and 7.6 magnitude earthquakes centered in Kahramanmaras, which affected 11 provinces. In its latest statement, the Ministry of Interior stated that the highest number of casualties occurred in Hatay and that 50,783 people died in all regions. The number of migrants who lost their lives in the area was 7,302. 107,000 people were injured in the earthquakes.

According to the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change, 36,932 buildings in the region, including 13,883 in Hatay, 7,295 in Kahramanmaras, 5,826 in Adıyaman, 4,197 in Malatya and 3,805 in Gaziantep, were destroyed in the earthquake. A total of 311 thousand buildings comprising 872 thousand independent sections became unusable due to the damage they sustained.

The earthquakes affected the lives of 14 million people, and the need for shelter, sanitation, hygiene, and psychosocial support is ongoing. According to the latest research conducted by the Red Crescent in the earthquake region, it was pointed out that the people affected by the earthquake are still under intense trauma and stress. At the same time, the need for privacy in shelters is also a significant problem.

Minister of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Mehmet Ozhaseki announced that the construction of 200 thousand houses in the earthquake zone has started, and 40 thousand houses will be delivered in the first stage after two months.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, during his participation in the “Earthquake Reality and Urban Transformation Council”, said, “We need to carry out the works by accepting all 81 provinces as earthquake zones.” He also stated that the number of earthquake victims living in container cities has reached 1.9 million. Underlining that these figures are more than some European countries’ total housing and commercial area size, Erdoğan said, “In other words, after the February 6 earthquakes, we were faced with rebuilding a medium-sized country from scratch.”
Erdoğan added that 1 trillion Turkish Liras will be allocated for the earthquake zone in 2024, and 3 trillion Turkish Liras will be used to recover our earthquake-stricken cities over the next three years.

The European Council has approved a plan to send 400 million euros to help the victims of the earthquakes center in Brussels.
The European Council, composed of representatives of EU member states, approved the EU Commission’s plan to provide a total of 454.8 million euros in disaster aid to Türkiye, Italy, and Romania. Romania, which suffered widespread damage in 2022, will receive €33.9 million and Italy, whose central regions were affected by floods in September 2022, will receive €20.9 million. Of this amount, €400 million will go to Türkiye.