Turkey’s Natural Disaster Insurance Institution (DASK) has issued a fresh warning that around 42% of homes across the country remain without compulsory earthquake insurance, more than 25 years after the scheme was introduced.
The warning comes as Turkey marks the anniversary of the 17 August 1999 Marmara earthquake, whose legacy has since been compounded by numerous further quakes, most devastatingly the Kahramanmaraş earthquakes of 6 February 2023, widely described as the country’s worst disaster in a century.
DASK, established in 2000 in the aftermath of the Marmara earthquake, is the public body responsible for administering Turkey’s Compulsory Earthquake Insurance scheme, which covers homes against earthquake damage and related hazards including fire, explosion, landslide and tsunami.
According to the agency, 58% of homes nationwide now carry a policy, with 11,700,223 properties insured in total. Coverage is highest in the Marmara region, at 65%, followed by Eastern Anatolia (64%), Southeastern Anatolia (63%), the Aegean and Mediterranean regions (59%) and Central Anatolia (51%). The Black Sea region has the lowest coverage, at 45%.
Since DASK began operating in 2000, Turkey has experienced 1,397 damaging earthquakes and received a total of 867,275 claims. The highest number of earthquakes in a single year was recorded in 2020, with 175 tremors, followed by 123 in 2021; the highest number of claims came in 2023, at 653,081.
“We paid out 39 billion lira after the Maraş earthquake”
Speaking to Anadolu Agency to mark the Marmara anniversary, DASK Secretary-General Balkır Demirkan said the Kahramanmaraş earthquakes had been the biggest test faced by the agency, the insurance sector and the state during DASK’s history. He said the agency had processed 540,000 claims within nine months of the disaster, paying out 39 billion lira in damages — an operation he said had no equivalent anywhere else in the world.
Of the estimated $104 billion in total financial losses from the Kahramanmaraş earthquakes, around $5.5 billion was covered by the insurance sector, Mr Demirkan said, of which $1.6 billion fell within DASK’s own capacity.
“Insurance uptake is higher where earthquakes are more frequent”
Mr Demirkan said the agency was not satisfied with the current 58% coverage rate, stressing that its legal target remained 100%. “We wouldn’t be satisfied even at 99% or 98%,” he said. “Fifty-eight percent is not an adequate level for us. Our goal is 100%, and we won’t be satisfied until we reach it.”
He said uptake varied significantly by region depending on earthquake awareness, with insurance far more common in areas that experience frequent tremors than in regions such as Konya and the Black Sea coast, where quakes are rarer and policies are often not renewed. He pointed to the importance of the Compulsory Disaster Insurance (ZAS) law, which is intended to extend DASK’s coverage to other recurring natural disasters such as floods, hail and fire.
AI-assisted claims processing planned over next five years
Mr Demirkan said the agency had prepared a five-year projection focused on integrating artificial intelligence into both policy sales and claims processing, with several pilot projects under way aimed at paying out claims more quickly, effectively and accurately after future earthquakes. He said DASK was also in discussions with regulators on making policies easier and faster for consumers to buy.
Marking the Marmara anniversary, Mr Demirkan urged Turkish citizens to take out or renew their earthquake policies without delay. “Our current capacity is more than sufficient to cover a potential Marmara earthquake, and our policyholders can rest assured,” he said, noting that coverage amounts rise automatically each month in line with inflation. He added that a newly published fault map from Turkey’s General Directorate of Mineral Research and Exploration had identified around 700 active faults nationwide, up from a previous estimate of roughly 400, underlining what he called a very high likelihood of further earthquakes. “No one knows when the next earthquake will come,” he said. “Regular renewal significantly reduces your risk of facing damage without cover.”
