Turkey-Syria Earthquake Death Toll Reaches 50,000: "6th Highest in History"

The earthquake that struck southeastern T?rkiye and northwestern Syria has resulted in over 50,000 deaths, making it the sixth deadliest natural disaster on record. The Turkish government has begun housing reconstruction efforts for 1.5 million displaced people who lost their homes in the quake.

According to major foreign news outlets on the 24th (local time), T?rkiye's Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) reported that the cumulative death toll reached 44,218 following the major quake on the 6th. Syrian authorities recently announced a death toll of 5,914. Thus, the combined death toll in both countries has surpassed 50,000, totaling 50,132.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported 6,760 deaths on the Syrian side, indicating the actual total casualties may be higher. The organization stated that 4,526 people died in rebel-controlled areas and 2,234 in government-controlled regions.

The Turkish government has so far counted 173,000 buildings as collapsed or severely damaged. As a result, more than 1.9 million people are staying in temporary shelters, hotels, or public facilities. AFAD is preparing 130 container settlements to accommodate these displaced individuals.

It is estimated that 20 million people in T?rkiye have been affected by the earthquake. The United Nations estimates that 800,000 people in Syria have been impacted.

AFAD reported that over 9,000 aftershocks have occurred in the affected areas since the major quake on the 6th. Rescue teams, including volunteers, totaling 240,000 personnel, are conducting recovery operations in 11 affected regions in T?rkiye, but no survivors have been found in recent days.

This T?rkiye-Syria earthquake is recorded as the sixth deadliest natural disaster of the 21st century. The fifth deadliest was the 2005 Pakistan earthquake, which caused 73,000 deaths.

Meanwhile, in Syria, two people were killed in an airstrike in the rebel-held northwest region. Rescue teams operating in the rebel areas stated, "An unidentified drone carried out the airstrike, killing two unidentified individuals." Local monitoring groups reported the airstrike occurred near the Syria-T?rkiye border but did not report casualties.

The perpetrator of the airstrike remains unknown, but foreign media noted that the Syrian government and its ally Russia have previously heavily bombed this area, and U.S. military aircraft have occasionally struck the north.

Meanwhile, a government official in T?rkiye announced that housing reconstruction efforts have begun. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an stated that the government aims to complete housing reconstruction within one year. He said the initial government plan is to build 200,000 apartments and 70,000 village houses, investing at least $15 billion (19.7 trillion KRW).

U.S. bank JP Morgan estimates that $25 billion will be required for housing and infrastructure reconstruction. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) estimated that 1.5 million people have been displaced by the earthquake and that 500,000 new homes are needed. UNDP also explained that of the $1 billion the UN is raising to assist the earthquake-affected areas, $113.5 million will be requested to clear building debris.

UNDP estimated that the earthquake generated between 11.6 million and 21 million tons of debris. This is at least ten times the 13 million tons of debris produced by the 1999 earthquake in northwestern T?rkiye.

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.