In 1999, an earthquake claimed the lives of 17 000 people in the Marmara region. Following this disaster, the government made earthquake insurance compulsory.
In August 2012, the authorities required every household to underwrite earthquake insurance before even opening a gas, electricity and water meter, hoping this would raise the number of insured from 3.8 million to 10 million in five years.
Today, only 6.3 of the 17.6 million homes are insured, that is roughly one in three homes. In South-Eastern Anatolia only 24% of properties are covered. It is the region where the percentage of coverage is the lowest. In contrast, about 60% of households in the province of Yalova, devastated in 1999, have insurance against earthquakes.
Between 2000 and 2014, 435 earthquakes have been recorded in the country, triggering the payment of 157 million TRY (74 million USD) in compensation by insurers.