The earthquakes that struck Turkey on February 6 and 20 caused 44,218 deaths and left some two million people homeless, according to a new balance made this Saturday by the Turkish authorities.
The previous balance pointed to 43,556 deaths.
According to information from the Turkish Agency for Disaster and Emergency Management (AFAD), cited by international organizations, close to two million people were left homeless and were forced to spend the night in tents, in prefabricated houses, in hotels or hostels.
AFAD explained that this number includes not only the people who continue to live in the areas affected by the earthquakes, but also those who sought refuge in other regions of the country.
The same source explained that 528,000 people were evacuated from the 11 Turkish provinces affected by the earthquakes, with 335,000 tents and 130 temporary prefabricated houses installed in these areas.
So far, Turkey’s Ministry of Urban Planning has inspected 1.3 million buildings and found that 173,000 properties were left uninhabitable and should be demolished immediately.
The total number of deaths in Syria, also affected by these earthquakes, now exceeds 5,900 and 11,000 people injured, according to the same source.
The Turkish authorities have indicated that the bodies of 2,000 Syrians have been identified in the border area between Turkey and Syria.
The earthquakes on February 6, with an epicenter in Turkish territory, and which were followed by several aftershocks, some of them very intense, caused at least 50,000 deaths in southern Turkey and northwestern Syria, figures that are still provisional.
Source: TSF
