Damascus: Syria needs almost $15 billion to recover following the devastating February earthquakes, according to a new UN assessment report launched on Monday in the Lebanese capital, Beirut.

Stemming from a collaborative effort among 11 UN agencies, funds and programmes working in Syria, the report aims at assessing the earthquakes’ impact on 38 sub-districts across five governorates of the country.

The assessment highlighted key damage and losses estimates across sectors and governorates, recovery, and disaster risk reduction priorities and implications for disaster resilient early recovery across Syria.

A 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck the Türkiye-Syria border area on 6 February, followed by another one nearly as strong. One of the biggest disasters to impact the region in recent times, tens of thousands of people were killed and many more injured, with thousands of collapsed buildings leaving countless people exposed to unforgiving winter conditions.