The material damage caused by the earthquakes in Turkey “exceeds 100 billion dollars”, according to the summary calculations of the World Bank, the UN and the European Union.

A month after the deadly earthquakes, “it is already clear that material damage alone will amount to more than $100 billionLouisa Winton, United Nations Development Programme’s Turkey Country Officer, said via video conference from Gaziantep during a UN press conference in Geneva.

“The cost of rebuilding and everything to do with the fact that rebuilding has to be done in better conditions, in more ecological terms, means that this amount will be exceeded,” said Louisa Vinton.

These estimates are based on provisional data, but the figure of $100 billion is what will be presented at the Donors Conference on March 16 in Brussels

Faced with these sums, Louisa Vinton expresses her “disappointment and sadness at the lack of generosity of the donors”. This moment, the $1 billion appeal on February 16 is only 9.6% methe said.

The February 6 earthquake of magnitude 7.8, accompanied by a strong aftershock of magnitude 7.6, left about 46,000 dead and 105,000 injured in Turkey, according to reports that are not yet final. It destroyed 214,000 in many cases high-rise buildingsin 11 of the 81 Turkish provinces.

About 6,000 people lost their lives in Syria.

Louisa Vinton describes “scenes of apocalypse” in the worst-hit Hatay province. “The needs are huge, but the resources are in short supply.”