In addition to these million civilians, nearly half a million people were evacuated from the earthquake-affected areas, said the president of Turkey’s National Emergency Service (AFAD), Yunus Seker.
“We have evacuated 460,945 people from the affected regions and are relocating 318,000 of them to public shelters and hotels,” Seker told reporters in Ankara.
“We continue to house about one million people affected by the earthquake in the region in tents, prefabricated houses and various institutions,” he added.
The official explained that the number of verified deaths rose to 40,689 today, an increase of 47 compared to the balance released on Saturday, but it is preliminary and should rise significantly given estimates that there are still tens of thousands bodies under the wreck.
The search for survivors has already been completed in most of the region, except in Kahramanmaras and Hatay provinces, where searches continue in about 40 buildings, Seker said, noting that in the coming months the installation of 100,000 prefabricated houses in the region.
According to the most recent figures released today by the Ministry of Urban Planning, 20,000 buildings, out of a total of 71,000 homes or offices, collapsed in the 11 provinces hit by the major earthquake and its aftershocks.
In total, of the 830,000 buildings inspected so far, 105,000 have collapsed or are so damaged that they need to be demolished as soon as possible, a statement from the ministry said, quoted by the Spanish news agency Efe.
Three-quarters of the total buildings inspected suffered no damage (407,000) or only minor damage (205,000), so they may be habitable, Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay said.
However, the authorities insist that no one should enter a house whose soundness has not been previously certified by specialists.
Source: DN
