Zurich-based catastrophe insurance data provider PERILS AG has updated its insured property market loss estimate for the Kahramanmaras Earthquake Sequence to TRY 117.0 billion, which is approximately $6.2 billion at February 2023 exchange rates.
This new loss figure compares to the previous PERILS estimates of TRY 92.8 billion in August 2023, TRY 86.4 billion issued three months after the event, and TRY 65.4 billion issued six weeks after the event.
Luzi Hitz, Product Manager at PERILS, commented: “Earthquake insurance is a challenge in many earthquake-prone countries. Take-up rates are often low, often driven by people’s conflicting financial priorities, affordability and a fatalistic attitude towards earthquakes. These factors contribute to the significant protection gap often observed after large earthquake disasters.”
“In order to facilitate the more widespread availability of earthquake insurance solutions, it is imperative that we elevate our understanding of the risk. In this sense, every disaster is also a chance to learn and improve, and this is where we hope our industry loss data can contribute.”
“In our daily work as an insurance data collector and aggregator, it is important to acknowledge the tragedies that underpin these numbers. The Kahramanmaras Earthquake Sequence was by far the deadliest and most devastating event in 2023,” Hitz continued.
“One year on, the impact of this tragedy is still being felt, and it will take years to rebuild what has been destroyed. Our sympathies go out anew to those affected in the Republic of Türkiye and the Syrian Arab Republic.”
PERILS explained that the Kahramanmaras Earthquake Sequence consisted of three major earthquakes measuring Mw 7.8, Mw 6.7, and Mw 7.5 on the moment magnitude scale.
PERILS also highlighted that the earthquake sequence caused immense loss of life and human suffering. According to the firm, approximately 62,000 people lost their lives, and an estimated 3 million people were displaced.
Official government figures put the cost of direct physical damage at TRY 1.6 trillion and indirect economic costs at TRY 350 billion.
In terms of insured losses, it is the costliest catastrophe event in Turkey’s history.
