13 February 2023
The economic losses linked to the earthquake in Turkey and Syria are expected to “exceed $2 billion” and “could reach $4 billion or more”, the rating agency Fitch said on Thursday.
However, the amounts insured are “much lower”, “perhaps around a billion dollars”, estimates Fitch.
However, the amounts insured are “much lower”, “perhaps around a billion dollars”, estimates Fitch, “due to the low insurance coverage in the affected regions”.
“They are expected to exceed $2 billion and could reach $4 billion or more,” the rating agency said.
However, the amounts “insured are much lower”, “due to the low insurance coverage in the affected regions”, explains Fitch. According to the rating agency, they would turn “perhaps around a billion dollars”, an amount “not very high in the context of the global reinsurance market”.
More than 17,100 dead in Turkey and Syria
The earthquake in Turkey and Syria on Monday killed more than 17,100 people, according to the latest report released Thursday by the authorities in the two countries. Entire regions were devastated by the tremors which also left tens of thousands injured and homeless.
Several archaeological sites have been affected in Syria and in particular the citadel of Aleppo, an architectural jewel of the medieval era and its old city, classified in 2013 as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in danger, after years of civil war. The Syrian Health Ministry reported damage in the provinces of Aleppo, Latakia, Hama and Tartous, where Russia operates a naval base.
In Turkey, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reported nearly 3,000 collapsed buildings in seven different provinces (2,834 according to AFAD, the Turkish public disaster management body).