UPDATE - Death toll from earthquakes in Türkiye rises to 43,556: Interior minister

ADDS MORE REMARKS

By Servet Gunerigok

WASHINGTON (AA) - The death toll from the powerful Feb. 6 earthquakes in southern Türkiye has risen to 43,556, Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said Wednesday.

Soylu made the remarks during a live broadcast with the TRT Haber TV channel in Hatay, one of the 11 provinces that were hit by the quakes.

"This is one of the biggest earthquakes in the world," he said.

The minister said it required a certain period of time to respond when faced with 26,000 collapsed homes during the first hours, and the earthquakes hit an area covering 110,000 square kilometers (42,471 square miles).

"This is the size of three Netherlands," he added.

The powerful tremors were centered in Kahramanmaras and shook 10 other provinces -- Hatay, Gaziantep, Adiyaman, Malatya, Adana, Diyarbakir, Kilis, Osmaniye, Sanliurfa and Elazig.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Türkiye will begin constructing more than 200,000 homes as early as March in areas devastated by the earthquakes and complete the process within one year.