President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said they would rebuild and revive 11 cities in southeastern Türkiye destroyed in the Feb. 6 twin earthquakes, considering all aspects, including their businesses, farming and agriculture, industry, as well as cultural and historical heritage.
Speaking at the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) Coordination Center in Hatay province, Erdoğan said they would soon start the reconstruction of the cities and would stand with all citizens as they strive to restart their lives following the devastating disaster.
"We would like to move residential areas away from the lowlands toward the mountainside," the president said, with the goal to eliminate the hazards associated with soil liquefaction during natural disasters.
He noted that Türkiye would rebuild a new Antakya, Iskenderun, Arsuz and other important areas destroyed in the earthquakes from scratch and revive them.
Noting that the government is actively working with geophysics, geotechnics, geology, seismology and earthquake experts from universities, Erdoğan said all residential areas would be reconstructed in line with urban planning, ground characteristics, distance to fault lines and the cultural fabric.
The president said it would take a year to reconstruct permanent homes for earthquake survivors, who are currently taking shelter in tent and container cities.
In line with the current goal, the reconstruction of homes would start next month, including 44,770 in Malatya, 9,550 in Osmaniye, 6,000 in Diyarbakır, 3,000 Şanlıurfa and 3,750 in Elazığ, 2,500 in Adana, 250 in Kilis, 40,426 in Hatay, 45,067 in Kahramanmaraş, 25,882 in Adıyaman and 18,544 homes in Gaziantep.
On Feb. 6, two earthquakes with magnitudes 7.7 and 7.6 shook southeastern Türkiye, killing at least 41,156 people and injuring tens of thousands of others, according to AFAD.
Over 6,210 aftershocks jolted the areas following the two main earthquakes, AFAD said.
Teams have mobilized to continue removing rubble from collapsed buildings while infrastructure works for establishing temporary settlements in worst-hit areas are gaining pace.
AFAD said that nearly 13,000 excavators, cranes, trucks and other industrial vehicles had been sent to the quake zone.