Zurich-based catastrophe insurance data provider PERILS on August 6 released its final insured property market loss estimate for the catastrophic series of earthquakes that hit southeastern and south-central Turkey in February 2023, announcing a figure of Turkish lira (TRY) 116.9bn (approximately $6.2bn at February 2023 exchange rates).

The huge natural disaster took the lives of at least 51,000 people across 11 Turkish provinces, although there are observers who claim officials are responsible for a drastic undercount.

In terms of insured losses, noted PERILS, the quakes, known to insurers as the Kahramanmaras Earthquake Sequence, amounted to the costliest catastrophe in Turkey’s history. Around three million people were displaced, with huge numbers of people still living in sprawling “container cities” as they await new homes that the government is substantially delayed in delivering.

Official government figures have estimated the economic cost at close to TRY 2 trillion (around $105bn at the exchange rate of February 2023).

Residential building losses are covered by the government-run Turkish Catastrophe Insurance Pool (TCIP), commercial lines losses and TCIP top-up losses covered by the private insurance industry.

Luzi Hitz, product manager at PERILS, said: “The Kahramanmaras Earthquake Sequence was an immense human tragedy, and it will take many years to address the full impact of this event. Insurance is only one component of the overall response to such a catastrophe. The Turkish insurance industry has been extremely proactive, ensuring efficient claims handling and rapid payment.”

He added: “Post-event reinsurance renewals saw substantial changes but were successfully concluded, while a new mechanism has been implemented to adjust the coverage provided by the Turkish Catastrophe Insurance Pool in line with inflation. This event has clearly been very challenging for the Turkish insurance market but has been met with an incredibly pragmatic, ‘can-do’ response.”

Hitz concluded: “As the industry loss figure has hardly moved from our fourth loss report and given that affected insurers do not expect further material loss development, this fifth loss report on the Kahramanmaras Earthquake Sequence is our final report.”

PERILS’ new loss figure compares to its previous estimates of TRY117.0bn ($6.2bn) issued in February 2024, TRY92.8bn (USD 4.9bn) in August 2023, TRY 86.4bn ($4.4bn) in May 2023, and the initial estimate of TRY 65.4bn (USD 3.5bn) issued six weeks after the event.

The insurance data provider said that in line with its coverage definition for Turkey, the estimates included losses from the property line of business. Losses from other lines of business and Syria, northern parts of which were also hit by the earthquakes, were not included.

The Kahramanmaras Earthquake Sequence consisted of three major earthquakes measuring Mw 7.8, Mw 6.7, and Mw 7.5 on the moment magnitude scale.