Türkiye: 2023 Earthquakes Situation Report No. 6, As of 3 March 2023 – Türkiye

This report is produced by the OCHA mission in Türkiye in collaboration with humanitarian partners and covers the humanitarian situation and earthquake response in Türkiye. Updates provided on emergency response activities reflect a summary snapshot rather than an exhaustive representation on all ongoing response efforts.

KEY FIGURES

SITUATION UPDATE

• 44,374 people have lost their lives due to the earthquakes on 06.02.2023.

• 11,020 aftershocks occurred after the earthquakes and are ongoing.

• More than 1.9 million people have evacuated from the 11 cities most affected by the earthquakes (Kahramanmaraş, Gaziantep, Şanlıurfa, Diyarbakır, Adana, Adıyaman, Osmaniye, Hatay, Kilis, Malatya and Elazığ) and registered with the governorships and district governships of different Turkish provinces.

• 1.9 million people are living in tents and temporary shelters.

• The earthquakes caused an estimated $34.2 billion in direct physical damages in Türkiye, the equivalent of 4% of the country’s 2021 GDP, according to the World Bank.

• Head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Ghebreyesus, visited the earthquake affected areas of Türkiye on 28 February and called the scale of the devastation “massive”: “We have driven today from Gaziantep until Antakya here, and the level of the destruction we have observed … is really, really massive,” he said.

• WASH issues are extremely pressing, with current data showing an extremely high people per toilet and shower ratios within affected area campsites. Worrying signs also exist of increasing health issues within tent-shelter camps.

• According to an IFRC market assessment, hot meals and essential food; shelter; WASH; and non-food items, including hygiene items, winter clothes and heaters, are critical needs in the affected area.

• The region affected by the earthquake is known as the Fertile Crescent and is critical for agricultural production, food industry and agricultural livelihoods. The region accounts for 14.5 percent of Türkiye’s total agricultural GDP. Although the resulting damage to the agriculture sector has not yet been assessed, earthquakes can and have caused loss or injury to rural life and agricultural production.