Death toll from Kahramanmaraş-centered twin earthquakes in Türkiye's southeast has reached 43,556, Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu said Wednesday.

Soylu's statement came amid rubble removal efforts in 11 provinces devastated by the Feb. 6 earthquakes.

Earlier in the day, he had a meeting with Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca and Chief of General Staff Gen. Yaşar Güler.

In a bid to provide shelter to the earthquake victims, 69,766 tents were set up in the worst affected provinces of Hatay, and 66,685 in Kahramanmaraş.

At the same time, 49,670 tents were setup in Gaziantep, 45,852 in Adıyaman, 25,380 in Malatya, 17,515 in Adana, 8,838 in Şanlıurfa, 7,170 in Osmaniye, 6,328 in Diyarbakir and 3,605 in Kilis.

Minister Soylu stated that the damage assessment rate for the earthquakes in Kahramanmaraş is between 75-80%, and that 750,000 independent sections with commercial areas were damaged.