Comparison of the Local Financial Impacts of the Kahramanmaraş and Hatay Earthquakes (Mw 7.7 - Mw 7.6) Estimated Values

Abstract

On February 6, 2023, at 04:17 and 13:24 Turkey time, two earthquakes with magnitudes of Mw7.7 (focal depth=8.6km)and Mw7.6 (focal depth=7km) occurred in Kahramanmaraş.On February 20, 2023, at 20:04 Turkey time, another earthquake with a magnitude of Mw6.4 struck Hatay.These earthquakes caused more than 48,000 deaths in 11 provinces on the Eastern Anatolian Fault Line, destroyed or severely damaged over half a million buildings and resulted in significant material losses.This study examines the financial impact of these earthquakes by evaluating the structural damage and loss of life.We estimate the financial impact on the economies of Hatay and Kahramanmaraş.As there is no clear data for 2023, we consider the population over the age of 18 as the number of people in the workforce.Based on the ratios of the current population of Hatay and Kahramanmaraş and the registered working population of 2022, we estimate that the number of insured employees in Hatay in 2023 would be approximately 123,060, and the number of insured employees in Kahramanmaraş would be 112,273.We also estimate the GDP contribution of Kahramanmaraş to be approximately 38.47 billion TL, and the GDP contribution of Hatay to be approximately 59.64 billion TL in 2023.