Quick Quake Briefing: Turkey M7 8 & M7 5 Earthquakes of 6 February 2023 - Insured Loss Aspects

The EERI Northern California Regional Chapter presented this webinar on insurance and earthquake losses in Turkey with comparison to the US. On 6 February 2023, a M7.8 earthquake struck southern and central Turkey and northern and western Syria. It was followed by a M7.5 earthquake later the same day. There was widespread damage and tens of thousands of fatalities. The total cost of earthquake damage in Turkey was estimated by TÜRKONFED at $84 billion US dollars ($71B on rebuilding, $10B loss in national income, and an additional $3B loss in workforce). The Turkish government released a preliminary report estimating the total damage cost at $103.6 billion, corresponding to 9 percent of its GDP in 2023. About half of residential property in the affected area is thought to be covered by Turkish Compulsory Earthquake Insurance. Dr. Ufuk Yazgan, Professor at Istanbul Technical University, provides an overview of the damage to the building stock. Erdem Karabostan, General Manager at the Turkish firm T-Rupt, explains how the insurance industry operates and responded to the earthquakes. Dr. Patxi Uriz, a Director at Moody’s Risk Management Solutions, discusses catastrophic risk management and contrasts the Turkish and U.S. construction and insurance practices.