TIRANA (Albania), February 6 (SeeNews) – Albania will need almost 1.08 billion euro ($1.2 billion) to recover from the damage and the loss of revenue across all sectors inflicted by a devastating earthquake that hit the country in November, the EU delegation to Albania said.
The total effects of the disaster in eleven affected municipalities top 980 million euro, the EU delegation said in a statement on Wednesday, citing data from a post-disaster needs assessment prepared jointly by Albania's government, the EU, the United Nations and the World Bank.
A magnitude 6.3 earthquake hit Albania on November 26, causing 51 fatalities, leaving 17,000 people displaced, and ultimately affecting more than 200,000 people in 11 municipalities.
“Most of the damages are recorded in the housing sector, followed by the productive sector (such as business and tourism, agriculture, and cultural heritage), and the education sector,” the EU delegation noted.
The European Commission will host a donors’ conference on February 17 in Brussels to provide the international community with the opportunity to announce their support, help the Albanian institutions manage the impact of the earthquake, and build resilience to future natural disasters, the EU delegation said.
($ = 0.90741 euro)