Syria Suffers $5.1 Billion in Earthquake Damage: Report
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – According to a report released on Friday by the World Bank, the earthquake that struck southeast Turkey and northern parts of Syria last month caused an estimated $5.1 billion in damage in Syria.
The quake killed at least 50,000 people, including about 6,000 in Syria, and left tens of thousands missing and hundreds of thousands homeless.
The report states that the level of damage in Syria is about 10% of the country's gross domestic product.
Syria’s northern province of Aleppo suffered the most damage, accounting for 45% of the total damages in Syria and amounting to about $2.3 billion in damages.
The report also revealed that the earthquake has compounded myriad other troubles in Syria, where the nearly 12-year foreign-backed war has killed nearly half a million people and displaced half the country's pre-war population of 23 million.
Jean-Christophe Carret, World Bank head for the Middle East, warned that "the disaster will cause a decline in economic activity that will further weigh on Syria’s growth prospects."
The damages assessed in the report include direct damages to buildings and structures, damage to cultural heritage sites, as well as both residential and non-residential sectors.
In an earlier assessment report, the World Bank said on Monday that the damages in Turkey from last month's earthquake are estimated at $34.2 billion.
