Turkey cracks down on builders; cost of earthquake pegged at 10% of GDP

Death toll in Turkey, Syria crosses 33,000; UN sees this rising to 50,000

Rescuers pulled more survivors from rubble on Sunday, six days after one of the worst earthquakes to hit Turkey and Syria, as authorities sought to maintain order across the disaster zone and started legal action over building collapses.

The death toll stood at 33,179 on Sunday and was certain to rise as search teams locate more bodies in the rubble. Authorities said over 92,600 other people were injured in the disaster.

The death toll from the massive earthquake in Turkey and Syria will “double or more” from its current level, UN relief chief Martin Griffiths told Sky News. Arriving in Turkey’s southern city of Kahramanmaras, he said, “I think it is difficult to estimate precisely as we need to get under the rubble but I’m sure it will double or more.”

“Soon, the search and rescue people will make way for the humanitarian agencies whose job it is to look after the extraordinary numbers of those affected for the next months,” he added.

Quakes cost pegged at $84 billion

The two massive earthquakes are expected to result in a loss to Turkey’s economy of over $84 billion, or about 10 per cent of the GDP, according to estimates of a business group. 

The quakes are projected to have caused about $70.8 billion of damage to residential buildings and a further $10.4 billion loss in national income, the Turkish Enterprise and Business Confederation said.

The group, commonly known as Turkonfed, said losses to the labor force would cost Turkey’s economy $2.9 billion. The quakes severely affected 10 provinces and 13.5 million people in Turkey, as well as in neighboring Syria.  

Turkonfed’s calculations were based on 1999 earthquakes near Istanbul that killed about 18,000 people. The toll in the latest devastation has far exceeded that of the 1999 quake, and thousands remain missing. 

The estimate is also bigger than what other economists have calculated so far, although many, including Barclays Plc, have highlighted that it’s too early to assess the full impact.

The damage to Turkey’s infrastructure, including roads and power grids, as well as to hospitals and schools, may push the nation’s budget deficit over 5.4 per cent of GDP this year, versus the official forecast of 3.5 per cent, according to the report. 

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his government would complete housing within a year and some 100 billion liras ($5.3 billion) have been initially allocated as disaster relief.   

Builders and looters add to the pain

Turkish officials have detained or issued arrest warrants for some 130 people allegedly involved in the construction of buildings that toppled down and crushed their occupants. Even though Turkye has, on paper, construction codes that meet current earthquake-engineering standards, they are too rarely enforced, explaining why thousands of buildings slumped onto their side or pancaked downward onto residents.

Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said on Sunday that 134 people were being investigated for their alleged responsibility in the construction of buildings that failed to withstand the quakes, according to Anadolu.

He said that three had been arrested pending trial, seven people were detained and seven other were barred from leaving the country.

Bozdag has vowed to punish anyone responsible, and prosecutors have begun gathering samples of buildings for evidence on materials used in constructions.

Authorities arrested two people in the province of Gaziantep on Sunday who are suspected of having cut down columns to make extra room in a building that collapsed, the state-run Anadolu said.

Meanwhile, Turkish authorities have arrested 48 people for looting or trying to defraud victims, state media reported on Saturday. The suspects were held in eight different provinces as part of investigations into looting, Anadolu said.

42 suspects were held for looting in southern Hatay province. Erdogan has warned that looters will be severely punished.

Miracle rescues

In a miraculous incident, a two-year-old baby was rescued from the rubble of collapsed buildings after 128 hours in debris, as reported by Anadolu Agency. The baby survived the deadly disaster and was immediately taken to the hospital for medical checks. In another similar incident, a 7-month-old baby was rescued, 140 hours after the quakes struck the region.