Erdogan: More than 1.68M quake-affected people provided shelter

Türkiye has provided shelter to over 1.68 million people who were affected by twin earthquakes that jolted the country's south on February 6, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has announced.

The construction of nearly 200,000 houses in quake-hit areas is also set to begin in March, Erdogan said during a briefing at the heavily affected Hatay province on Monday.

Construction will start in 11 provinces – Adana, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Gaziantep, Hatay, Kahramanmaras, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye, Sanliurfa, and Elazig – all of which were affected by the magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 earthquakes.

The majority of the construction work will be focused on the Hatay, Kahramanmaras, and Malatya provinces, with over 40,000 houses to be built in each province.

The need for the shelter of over 1.68 million people who were affected by twin earthquakes, centred in the Kahramanmaras province, was met, Erdogan added.

READ MORE: Over 6,000 aftershocks occurred after February 6 Türkiye quakes – AFAD

Over 45,000 dead

At least 41,156 people were killed and 105,505 others injured in the twin earthquakes centred in the Kahramanmaras province, according to the latest official figures.

More than 13 million people in Türkiye have been affected by the deadly quakes.

Several countries in the region, including Syria and Lebanon, also felt the tremors that struck in a period of less than 10 hours.

In Syria, at least 5,840 people were killed by the deadly quakes.

READ MORE: Türkiye urges OSCE reforms for better cooperation in natural disasters