Istanbul (AFP) - The earthquake that struck Turkey on February 6, Europe's "worst natural disaster" in a century, according to the World Health Organization, left the country in shock.

A month after the disaster, millions of Turks are facing its dire consequences, with relatives dead, cities destroyed and a new life in tents or containers.

The 7.8-magnitude earthquake - followed a few hours later by another with a magnitude of 7.6 - killed about 46,000 people (their bodies were found) and injured 105,000, according to an unconfirmed toll.

It also destroyed or damaged 214,000 buildings - sometimes reaching more than twelve floors - in 11 of the country's 81 governorates. Nearly 6,000 people have died in Syria.

Turkish cities in the provinces of Kahramanmaraş, near the epicenter of the earthquake, and Hatay, on the border with Syria, were devastated, forcing the authorities to hastily bury thousands of people in makeshift graves in fields and forests.

About 14 million people, or one-sixth of the country's population, were affected by the disaster. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said 3.3 million people had so far been forced to leave the quake zone.

Currently, more than two million people live in tents and containers.

More than 13,000 aftershocks have been recorded in one month and this ground that continues to shake Saturday continues to cause panic in the country, located in one of the most seismically active regions in the world.

In the afflicted areas, anger is still overwhelming at the state, which took fifty hours to deploy relief teams, especially the army, while tens of thousands of people were stuck alive under the rubble.

Erdogan acknowledged the delay, which he blamed on harsh winter weather and the scale of the disaster, which covered 20,000 square kilometres, asking for forgiveness from the survivors.

Opinion surveys have shown that building developers and contractors are primarily responsible for the huge losses, after the buildings they built collapsed like paper.

At the end of February, the Turkish Minister of Justice announced the initiation of legal proceedings against 997 people involved in the construction of these buildings. 247 of them were arrested while trying to leave the country.

But no official has resigned or been removed from office except for the mayor of a small town from the ruling party, the Justice and Development Party.

Turkey, which is suffering from severe inflation and a depreciation of the currency, must absorb the economic damage of the earthquake, which the World Bank estimated at more than $34 billion.

This amount is equivalent to four percent of the country's gross domestic product for the year 2021, and does not include the cost of reconstruction, which may reach "twice" the amount, as indicated by the World Bank.

Erdogan promised to build more than 450,000 homes with earthquake resistance standards "within a year" and to pay 100,000 Turkish liras (about 5,000 euros) to the families of the dead.

On Wednesday, the President announced that one million earthquake-affected people have already received 10,000 liras in aid, a total of half a billion euros.

Special relocation aid of up to 15,000 Turkish liras (750 euros) has also been pledged.

According to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, "increased output from reconstruction activities may largely offset the negative impact of disruption to economic activity."

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan put an end to speculation on Wednesday by confirming that the presidential and legislative elections will be held on May 14 as planned.

Erdogan, who has been in power for twenty years and is running for re-election, has made the reconstruction of devastated areas his approach. However, the election is the most threatening for him since 2003.

The opposition, which has tried to unite into a national coalition of six parties, should nominate its joint candidate on Monday. But the choice of Kemal Kilicdaroglu, head of the Republican People's Party, the main opposition party, caused the coalition to split on Friday.