A fresh earthquake measuring magnitude 5.5 on the Richter scale struck central Turkey region on Saturday, according to the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre.
The latest earthquake in Turkey was measured approximately at a depth of 10 kilometers of 6.21 miles, reported EMSC.
The death toll in earthquake ravaged Turkey and Syria went past the 50,000 mark on Friday with Turkey declaring casualties in excess of 44,000 in the series of earthquakes that have rocked the two nations since February 6.
The disaster and emergency management authority (AFAD) in Turkey said that the death toll in Turkey due to the earthquakes had risen to 44,218 as of Friday night.
That along with Syria’s latest death toll information of 5,914 took the total number of people who lost their lives in the series of earthquakes to above 50,000.
Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government has been on the receiving end of criticism over both its response to the devastation and years of non-enforcement of construction quality control, as per the people of Turkey.
The Turkey government now plans to build 2,00,000 apartments and 70,000 village houses costing at least USD 15 billion, Erdogan said. US Bank JP Morgan had estimated the rebuilding houses and infrastructure in Turkey will cost USD 25 billion.
According to estimations from the UNDP, the destruction caused by the earthquake in Turkey has left behind 1.5 million people homeless with around 5,00,000 new houses required. It mentioned that it had requested USD 113.5 million from the USD 1 billion in funds appealed for by the United Nations last week which will be focused on clearing the mountains of rubble in the wake of the devastation in Turkey.
The UNDP has estimated that the disaster in Turkey has produced between 116 million to 210 million tons of rubble in comparison to 13 million tons of rubble after the earthquake in northwest Turkey in 1999.
Turkey has also issued new regulations in the wake of the devastating earthquake under which companies and charities can build homes and workplaces to donate to the urbanization ministry for the people in need.
Meanwhile, many of the survivors of the initial earthquakes have left the region of southern Turkey that had been hit by the tremors or have settled in tents, container homes and other government sponsored accommodation.
