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Nearly 118,000 homes collapsed, damaged or to be demolished due to earthquakes in Turkey

According to Murat Kurum, these provinces will see "the largest housing construction in the history of the country" within a year

ANKARA, February 20. /TASS/. Some 118,000 buildings in Turkey affected by the February 6 earthquakes have collapsed, are badly damaged or are to be demolished, the country's Environment and Urbanization Minister Murat Kurum said on Monday.

"A total of 925,000 buildings in the 11 provinces affected by the earthquakes have been inspected. About 118,000 of them have either collapsed or are severely damaged or are subject to immediate demolition," he said on local television.

According to Kurum, these provinces will see "the largest housing construction in the history of the country" within a year.

The earthquakes of magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 occurred on February 6 with nine-hour intervals in Kahramanmaras province in southeastern Turkey. Tremors, followed by hundreds of aftershocks, were felt in neighboring countries, of which Syria was the most affected. According to the latest data, more than 41,000 people became victims of natural disasters in Turkey, with over 108,000 people injured.