[Asia Economy Reporter Jo Yujin] The death toll from the massive earthquake that struck T?rkiye (Turkey) and Syria has surpassed 20,000, exceeding the damage scale of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. The economic losses from this earthquake are expected to reach up to 5 trillion won. The international community is also extending support, with the U.S. government providing approximately 107.5 billion won in humanitarian aid for recovery efforts.
According to AP News and others on the 9th (local time), T?rkiye's Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) officially reported a cumulative death toll of 17,134 on the fourth day after the earthquake. The death toll reported by Syrian authorities and rebel groups in the neighboring country rose to 3,162. The combined total death toll for both countries reached 20,296, far surpassing the 18,500 deaths from the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. As a result, this disaster has been recorded as the seventh deadliest earthquake of the 21st century.
This is also expected to be recorded as the deadliest earthquake in T?rkiye's history. The death toll has exceeded that of the 1999 northwestern earthquake, which caused around 17,000 deaths. The New York Times (NYT) reported that the death toll is also expected to soon surpass that of the December 27, 1939 earthquake in the northeastern Erzincan Province, which killed about 30,000 people. The magnitude of that earthquake was 7.8, the same as the recent earthquake.
Since the first earthquake occurred in the early morning of the 6th, the "golden time" for rescue has passed, and up to 200,000 people are still trapped under the rubble of collapsed buildings, causing the death toll to rise in real time. Obgun Ahmet, a leading earthquake scientist in T?rkiye, estimated that as many as 200,000 citizens are trapped under collapsed buildings. Ilan Kelman, a disaster health professor at University College London (UCL), expressed concern, saying, "In the case of T?rkiye and Syria, due to subzero temperatures accompanied by snow and rain, people trapped under building debris are highly likely to die from hypothermia and other causes."
Rescue teams have not given up hope. According to T?rkiye's state broadcaster TRT, at 3:05 p.m. that day, a 6-month-old baby was rescued from the rubble of a collapsed apartment in Adiyaman after being trapped for 82 hours. Earlier, in Antakya, a 2-year-old boy survived after being trapped for 79 hours following the earthquake. Turkish authorities announced that as of that day, more than 110,000 rescue personnel and over 5,500 heavy equipment units had been deployed to the earthquake-affected areas. Additionally, 6,479 overseas rescue workers from 56 countries are intensifying rescue operations on site. South Korea’s emergency relief team, dispatched to assist in rescuing T?rkiye earthquake victims, rescued five people on the first day of relief operations.
International support continues as well. The U.S. government has decided to provide humanitarian aid worth 85 million dollars (approximately 107.5 billion won) to assist in recovery efforts. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) stated, "This budget will support over 200 USAID partners providing urgent assistance in T?rkiye and Syria."
The economic shock from this earthquake is expected to be significant. The international credit rating agency Fitch estimated that economic losses from the T?rkiye earthquake could reach up to 4 billion dollars (approximately 5 trillion won). Since the scale of damage is still growing in real time and cannot be fully confirmed, the losses are expected to increase further.
In its report, Fitch predicted that the insurance industry would suffer the greatest losses due to the massive property damage caused by this earthquake. It added, "The amount could increase depending on future developments." However, given the low insurance coverage in the earthquake-affected areas, a significant portion of the loss burden may fall on the Turkish government.
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