An official of the United Nations Development Program said in a press briefing, on Tuesday, that the damages caused by the devastating earthquake in Turkey will exceed $100 billion.
“It is clear from the calculations made so far that the damages provided by the government and endorsed by international partners will exceed $100 billion,” said Louisa Fenton, the program’s official, via video link from Gaziantep, Turkey.
She added that the preliminary figure will be used as the basis for a donor conference to raise funds to help the earthquake victims in Turkey and Syria, which will be held in Brussels and Belgium on March 16.
The earthquake led to the collapse or damage of more than 160,000 Turkish buildings, including 520,000 apartments, in the worst disaster in the country’s modern history.
The Turkish Disaster and Emergency Management Authority said, in a statement, earlier that about two million people have fled the area, which has been hit by more than 11,000 aftershocks since the first earthquake.
Turkey has set up more than 350,000 tents, with tent cities set up in 332 places across the region, and container dwellings set up in 162 places.
The Director-General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said earlier that the organization will support Ankara in its response to the earthquake.
Tedros added that Turkey was “doing its best” but still needed international support to help the victims.
