Two large earthquakes struck southern Turkey on 6 February 2023, nine hours apart, killing 53,537 people in Turkey by the government's count. AFP reported Syrian figures of 1,414 deaths in government held areas and 4,537 in rebel held areas. Prosecutors opened thousands of investigations into collapsed buildings, and courts have convicted contractors, owners and officials, including in the Grand İsias Hotel case in Adıyaman. The government says it has delivered more than 455,000 homes and workplaces.
In the Grand İsias Hotel case a regional appeals court upheld the 2024 convictions, according to ANKA and Kıbrıs Postası, and no ruling by the Court of Cassation was found. Three former officials were convicted on 19 January 2026 and families said they would appeal. The Rönesans Rezidans trial in Hatay had no verdict as of late October 2026, when the cases of two former local officials were merged into it.
The USGS records a magnitude 7.8 earthquake near Pazarcık, Kahramanmaraş province, at 01:17:34 UTC (04:17 local time). Turkey's mineral research agency MTA, citing AFAD records, gave it as Mw 7.7 at a depth of 8.6 km.
About nine hours later, at 10:24:48 UTC (13:24 local time), a magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck near Elbistan, according to the USGS. AFAD records cited by MTA gave it as Mw 7.6 at a depth of 7 km.
Among the buildings that collapsed were the Grand İsias Hotel in Adıyaman, where 72 people died, and the Rönesans Rezidans complex in Antakya, where the official toll was 269, according to AFP, Hürriyet Daily News and Turkish Minute.
Several days after the earthquakes, Mehmet Yaşar Coşkun, contractor of the Rönesans Rezidans, was detained at Istanbul Airport as he was about to board a flight to Montenegro and was later arrested, Turkish Minute reported.
Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ said 612 suspects were under investigation over building collapses and 184 had been jailed pending trial, including contractors and building owners, AP reported. A district mayor in Gaziantep province was also detained.
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said 53,537 people died and 107,213 were injured in Turkey, with 38,901 buildings destroyed. AFP reported that Syrian government figures gave 1,414 deaths in government held areas and officials in rebel held northern Syria reported 4,537, for a combined toll of 59,488.
The trial of eight defendants over the collapse of the Rönesans Rezidans opened at the Hatay 3rd High Criminal Court on charges of causing death and injury through conscious negligence, with prosecutors seeking up to 22 years, Turkish Minute and the DHA news agency reported. The contractor said the buildings met codes and passed inspections, according to Turkish Minute.
At a ceremony in Hatay, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said 130,000 post quake houses were being delivered and that 452,958 residential units, workplaces and barns would be delivered by the end of 2025, according to Turkey's Directorate of Communications.
A court in Adıyaman sentenced Grand İsias Hotel owner Ahmet Bozkurt and the hotel's architect to 18 years and 5 months each and the owner's son to 17 years and 4 months for causing death or injury through conscious negligence, AFP reported, citing Anadolu. Hürriyet Daily News said six defendants were sentenced. Reports differ on the spelling of the architect's surname.
Turkish Cypriot Prime Minister Ünal Üstel said the sentences were too lenient and that the case would be taken to a higher court, AFP reported.
Turkish Minute and BirGün, both citing the ANKA agency and Justice Ministry data, reported 2,031 investigations and 1,397 indictments over collapsed buildings, 1,271 cases at first instance with 1,327 defendants, and 75 concluded trials with prison sentences for 130 defendants.
Six former Adıyaman public officials, including former deputy mayor Osman Bulut, were indicted on negligence charges over permits for the Grand İsias Hotel, the Cyprus Mail reported, citing ANKA. Bulut denied wrongdoing.
By late June 2025 the 16th Criminal Chamber of the Gaziantep Regional Court of Justice had rejected the appeals against the December 2024 rulings, and families had taken the case to the Court of Cassation, Sözcü reported citing ANKA. Kıbrıs Postası said prosecutors, the Turkish Cypriot authorities and families had appealed. The date of the appeal ruling was not reported.
Erdoğan marked the handover of the 455,000th post quake home in Hatay, with the government counting 455,357 homes and workplaces delivered and 105,179 more to come, Anadolu Agency reported.
Anadolu AgencyThe Adıyaman 1st High Criminal Court sentenced former deputy mayor Osman Bulut, former zoning director Mehmet Salih Alkayış and former licensing bureau chief Bilal Balcı to 10 years each for conscious negligence and acquitted three other defendants, the İhlas news agency and Turkish Minute reported. The court did not order the three detained. The Turkish Cypriot Bar Association said the verdict would be appealed.
Kıbrıs Postası reported that the Adıyaman 1st High Criminal Court's 160 page reasoned verdict said the officials acted with conscious negligence because possible intent could not be established. Families said they would go to the regional appeals court.
At a memorial in Osmaniye, Erdoğan said 455,000 housing units had been delivered and the cities rebuilt in three years, and put direct economic losses at 104 billion dollars, Hürriyet Daily News reported.
The Hatay 3rd High Criminal Court rejected the families' lawyers' request that the defendants be asked to answer for possible intentional killing and kept three, including the contractor, in detention, Evrensel reported. Six defendants remained after two died, and the defendants denied the charges.
The Hatay 3rd High Criminal Court merged the case against the former mayor of Ekinci municipality and its former public works director into the Rönesans Rezidans trial and kept three defendants, including the contractor, in detention, the DHA news agency reported. Evrensel said the two face negligence charges and the former mayor denied any fault.
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AFP, via Dawn · dawn.com Anadolu Agency · aa.com.trLast updated 1 November 2026. Spotted an error? See corrections. Every event links to the record it comes from. Allegations are attributed to whoever made them.