Scale of destruction in Türkiye quakes will make rehabilitation tough, complex: Expert

ROME

Monday’s deadly earthquakes in southern Türkiye were among the strongest ever recorded in the Anatolian region, and the sheer scale of destruction will make reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts tough and complex, according to an Italian expert.

The energy released by the magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 earthquakes was 1,000 times more than that of the tremor that hit Italy’s Amatrice region in 2016, Fabrizio Curcio, head of the country’s Civil Protection Department, told Anadolu.

The magnitude 6.2 quake in central Italy claimed around 300 lives and injured hundreds more.

There are areas that have been totally erased from the Earth’s surface or profoundly damaged, he said.

The resilience of Turkish society will be decisive in rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts, he added.

“People should be able to find the strength to restart,” said Curcio.

Despite the help and solidarity extended by Italy and the international community, it will be a tough and complicated process to organize all this aid and reconstruct the quake-hit region, he added.

Monday’s earthquakes impacted some 13 million people across 10 Turkish provinces – Kahramanmaras, Adana, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Gaziantep, Hatay, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye, and Sanliurfa.

The death toll is now over 19,300, with over 77,700 others injured, according to latest official figures.