1.5 million now homeless in Türkiye after quake disaster, warn UN development experts

As the death toll from the 6 February earthquake disaster topped 42,000 in Türkiye, UN development experts said on Tuesday that 1.5 million people have been made homeless in the south of the country, where at least 500,000 new homes will need to be built.

Highlighting the staggering scale of the reconstruction challenge ahead, UNDP’s Louisa Vinton explained an estimated 116 to 210 million tonnes of rubble would have to be cleared away first.

“To give you a frame of reference, the last major earthquake in Turkey, in 1999, which also had a high number of casualties, although less than less than half of what we're seeing now, that resulted in 13 million tonnes of rubble,” she said. 

In past disasters after earthquakes and explosions in Nepal, Haiti, Lebanon, and also Ukraine, UNDP has partnered projects to ensure that rubble is dealt with in an environmentally safe way. “Much of it can be recycled for construction and it can also be used as a way of generating income short term,” Ms. Vinton explained.