Turkey earthquakes to cost insurers $2.4 billion – KCC
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Feb 16 (Reuters) – Catastrophe modeling firm Karen Clark & Company (KCC) said on Thursday it expects insured losses of $2.4 billion from the devastating dual Kahramanmaras earthquakes that hit Turkey earlier this month.
The number of people killed by the deadliest earthquake in Turkey’s modern history has risen to 36,187, authorities said.
Total property losses from the magnitude 7.8 and 7.5 earthquakes are expected to be close to $20 billion, KCC said.
The firm’s insured loss figure did not include Syria, where the disaster has compounded a humanitarian crisis caused by 12 years of war.
The earthquakes destroyed or heavily damaged more than 41,000 buildings across ten of Turkey’s 81 provinces, according to the report.
The disaster is the largest magnitude event to occur in Turkey since the 1939 Erzincan earthquake, the modeling firm said.
Direct costs from the destruction of physical structures in Turkey could amount to 2.5% of growth domestic product, or $25 billion, JPMorgan said on Thursday.
In Other Developments:
A 17-year-old girl was pulled alive from the rubble in Turkey’s Kahramanmaras province, broadcaster TRT Haber reported, 248 hours after the earthquake.
Footage showed her being carried on a stretcher to an ambulance covered with a gold coloured thermal blanket.
Heavy machinery dug through the debris of collapsed buildings in the southern city of Adiyaman, part of the controlled demolition of buildings destroyed by the earthquake.
“Many people left because they are afraid,” quake survivor Ismail Erturk said as he watched the excavator remove debris. Among those who remained is Mustafa Akan, who said he hasn’t entered any building since the earthquake. He sleeps outdoors and stays warm by burning wood in a bucket.
Turkey’s death toll from the earthquake hit 36,187, the country’s disaster authority said. The combined death toll from Turkey and Syria stands at more than 42,000 people.
More than 4,300 aftershocks have hit the disaster zone since the initial earthquake, the disaster authority said.
Turkish miners who rescued survivors told of their joy when they heard voices in the rubble and their concerns about reaching people fast.
“There is no other joy than hearing the voice of a survivor. It is nothing I can explain,” said Cemil Dedeoglu, 37. “There is no other happiness than taking that person out and handing them over to their families.”
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said the earthquake in Turkey could cause the loss of up to 1% of its gross domestic product this year.
JPMorgan said direct costs from the destruction of physical structures in Turkey could amount to 2.5% of GDP or $25 billion.
Insured losses are expected to reach $2.4 billion from earthquake that hit Turkey, catastrophe modeling firm Karen Clark & Company (KCC) said.
Total property losses from the magnitude 7.8 and 7.5 earthquakes are expected to be close to $20 billion, KCC said.
The firm’s insured loss figure did not include Syria.
The Turkish central bank’s 30 billion lira ($1.6 billion) donation for the earthquake zone will come from profits last year, a source said.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Germany, Turkey and Greece from Feb. 16-22.
