International Recovery Platform

Turkey experienced severe losses of life and infrastructure in 1999 caused by the August earthquake. The earthquake was followed by a period of economic and financial crisis, culminating in a major currency devaluation in February 2001. What has been the

This Working Paper presents a cross-directorate report on the economic, budgetary, regulatory and urban policy implications of the earthquakes which struck the Marmara and Bolu areas of Turkey on 17 August and 12 November 1999. The earthquakes caused high casualties and significant material damage to property, with severe effects on economic activity. The Report traces the factors underlying Turkey’s vulnerability to earthquake damage, along a known active fault line, to deficiencies in risk identification procedures and risk-reduction methods, as well as to the absence of risk transfer and financing techniques. It suggests that these deficiencies may stem from the nature of recent Turkish economic development, which has been driven by the need to assimilate a mass migration from the countryside to the cities and has been associated with extremely high and variable inflation.

As the result of the earthquake the lifelines in Bam, including public health services, totally broke down in the first 24-48 hrs. The Iranian authorities responded swiftly and the very acute phase of the response has ended. The urgent needs for health sector is being incorporated in the overall flash appeal launched on 8th January 2004 by OCHA. The present framework has been developed with the aim of in depth assessment of needs for medium-term rehabilitation of health as an integral component of the overall reconstruction.