Economic impact to exceed $1 billion

Significant fatalities and damage have been reported after Southern Turkey was struck by a major Magnitude 7.8 earthquake this morning close to Gaziantep, near the Syrian border.

The US Geological Survey (USGS) gives a 34 per cent chance that the economic impact will reach above $1 billion, according to several international media.

This earthquake is one of the largest ever recorded in Southern Turkey, although the region is particularly seismically active. This earthquake is one of the largest ever recorded in Southern Turkey, although the region is particularly seismically active.

The USGS said, “On February 6, 2023, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake occurred in southern Turkey near the northern border of Syria. The earthquake was followed 11 minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock.

The USGS Pager data suggests a 34% chance economic damages will rise above US $1 billion, which would make this a very costly earthquake event for the region.

Steve Bowen, Chief Science Officer at reinsurance broker Gallagher Re, commented that a magnitude 6.7 quake in the same region in January 2020 cost around $600 million.

However, the 1999 earthquake caused economic losses of $23 billion. According to the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDDR), the Izmit Earthquake, also called Kocaeli Earthquake or Golcuk Earthquake, occurred on 17 August 1999.

The magnitude 7.4 earthquake was the most damaging earthquake in Turkey, causing the death of 17,000 people and leaving more than 250,000 people homeless. The Izmit earthquake happened in the industrialized and most densely populated urban areas of Istanbul, Sakarya, Golcuk, Darica, and Derince. Reports show that about 120,000 houses were severely damaged due to poor construction. Many bridges and other infrastructure were also damaged. From an economic perspective, the damage was estimated at $23 billion.