The catastrophic earthquakes that caused widespread destruction in the south of Türkiye this month have led to the collapse or severe damage of over 200,000 buildings, a senior official said Tuesday.

The magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 quakes struck on Feb. 6 and flattened a swathe of the southeastern region, killing over 44,000 people and leaving millions homeless.

Described as the worst disaster in Türkiye’s modern history, the quakes impacted an area that is home to some 13.5 million people, or over 15% of the country's population.

Authorities have so far completed inspections of 1.52 million buildings in the region, said Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Minister Murat Kurum.

"We have determined that 582,000 independent sections and 202,000 buildings have collapsed or have been severely damaged and will be demolished immediately," Kurum told a news conference in the quake-hit Hatay province.

In Hatay alone, about 60,000 buildings have been either destroyed or severely damaged to the extent that they need to be torn down, Kurum said.

The minister said contracts were signed to start construction of 456 apartments in Gaziantep province’s Nurdağı district, as well as of 645 houses in Kilis and 297 residential units in Adıyaman.

Kurum informed tender processes were ongoing for 2,663 apartments to be built in Gaziantep, Kahramanmaraş, Hatay and Şanlıurfa.

In total, Kurum said construction of 14,500 residential units will have started in February.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has pledged to rebuild homes and the southeastern disaster zone within a year.

The initial plan is to build 200,000 apartments and 70,000 village houses at the cost of at least $15 billion.

Around 2 million people left homeless by the disaster are being housed in tents, container homes and other facilities in the region and in other parts of the country, according to the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD).