Turkey earthquakes to cost insurers $2.4B: KCC

By Reuters February 16, 2023 | 05:34 am PT

A man rides his bike along a collapsed Roman Catholic church in the aftermath of the deadly earthquake in Iskenderun, a coastal town of Hatay province, Turkey, February 14, 2023. Photo by Reuters/Umit Bektas

Catastrophe modeling firm Karen Clark & Company (KCC) said on Thursday it expects insured losses of $2.4 billion from the devastating dual Kahramanmaras earthquakes that hit Turkey earlier this month.

The number of people killed by the deadliest earthquake in Turkey's modern history has risen to 36,187, authorities said.

Total property losses from the magnitude 7.8 and 7.5 earthquakes are expected to be close to $20 billion, KCC said.

The firm's insured loss figure did not include Syria, where the disaster has compounded a humanitarian crisis caused by 12 years of war.

The earthquakes destroyed or heavily damaged more than 41,000 buildings across ten of Turkey's 81 provinces, according to the report.

The disaster is the largest magnitude event to occur in Turkey since the 1939 Erzincan earthquake, the modeling firm said.

Direct costs from the destruction of physical structures in Turkey could amount to 2.5% of growth domestic product, or $25 billion, JPMorgan said on Thursday.