The World Bank said today, Monday, that the two major earthquakes that hit Turkey on February 6 caused damage and losses of about $34.2 billion directly, but the costs of reconstruction and overall recovery in the country may be high.

The bank estimates that the earthquakes will reduce at least 0.5% of Turkey’s gross domestic product to between 3.5% and 4% in 2023.

Anna Birdy, World Bank Group Vice President for Europe and Central Asia, said that the situation in Syria, which was also affected by the earthquake, was “truly catastrophic,” noting that the Bank will issue a separate damage assessment for Syria on Tuesday.

The initial quick damage assessment for Turkey is $34.2 billion, which is equivalent to about 4% of economic output in 2021, Birdy said.

“Our experience is that reconstruction needs can amount to two to three times the estimated direct physical damage,” she said.

It should be noted that Turkey was hit by two major earthquakes on February 6, which are among the strongest in the country’s history, and resulted in tens of thousands of victims.