Estimated economic cost of the earthquakes in Turkey

According to a Turkish industry group, the accident might cost the nation up to $84 billion.

According to a business organisation reported by Bloomberg, the terrible earthquakes that slammed Syria and Turkey on Monday could have caused $84 billion in damage in Turkey alone. The figure provided by the group is significantly higher than anticipated.

In a report published on Sunday, Bloomberg cited an anonymous “Turkish business group” in estimating the cost. Economic losses “look likely to exceed $2 billion,” according to the US-based Fitch ratings agency, and they could reach $4 billion or more. The amount was estimated at $3 to $5 billion by Bank of America, plus “at least another $2 to $3 billion needed for helping impacted people.”

More than a tenth of Turkey’s GDP would be spent, or $84 billion.

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On Monday morning, an earthquake of magnitude 7.7 struck the province of Gaziantep in southeast Turkey. A few hours later, an earthquake of magnitude 7.6 struck the nearby province of Kahramanmaras. According to an official count on Saturday evening, the earthquakes left a trail of severe destruction over nine Turkish provinces and in neighbouring Syria, killing 22,327 people in Turkey and wounding 80,278.

Over 3,500 people have died in Syria, according to data compiled by the Damascus government and militant organisations operating in the impacted areas.

The 1939 Erzincan earthquake, a magnitude 7.8 shock that killed an estimated 32,000 people and wounded 100,000, was the most powerful earthquake to hit Turkey. In 1999, a severe earthquake that killed more than 17,000 people rocked Kocaeli Province in Turkey.