Erdogan updates fatalities in Turkey as 35,418

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday that 35,418 fatalities have so far been reported after the earthquake on 6 February, adding that 13,208 victims are currently being treated in hospitals.

Speaking at the headquarters of Turkey's Disaster and Emergency Management (AFAD) in Ankara after a meeting with ministers, he also noted that search and rescue operations have been concluded in 15,000 destroyed buildings and operations are to continue in some 4,000.

"Around 369,000 buildings with 1.85 million residence units in the earthquake zone have been technically inspected by the teams of the Ministry of Environment Urbanization and Climate Change," Erdogan said. "According to preliminary assessments, 47,000 buildings with 211,000 residence units have either been destroyed and will be demolished, or received major damages."

Stating that construction of 30,000 residences will begin by early March, Erdogan said:

"Our objective is to complete the construction of enough residences within a year to provide quality and safe housing for the victims in the entire earthquake zone."