On February 6, 2023, two devastating earthquakes of magnitudes 7.8 and 7.5 hit southeast Türkiye, followed by thousands of aftershocks. Two weeks later, on February 20, 2023, another earthquake of magnitude 6.7 struck the region. The February 2023 earthquakes caused widespread loss of life and massive destruction of homes. Critical municipal infrastructure was also severely affected. The Government of Türkiye’s 2023 Kahramanmaraş and Hatay Earthquake Report estimates losses to municipal services at over $700 million, with water and wastewater systems particularly hard hit. These services are essential to sustaining cities’ economic and social functions after disasters. The scale of destruction highlights the urgent need to rebuild with enhanced resilience.

To support rebuilding efforts in the affected areas, the World Bank is financing the reconstruction of municipal water and sanitation infrastructure through the Türkiye Earthquake Recovery and Reconstruction Project (TERRP), alongside other international financial institutions (IFIs). ILBANK—a state-owned development and investment bank in Türkiye that works closely with municipalities and implements the municipal infrastructure reconstruction component under the TERRP—carried out municipal damage and needs-assessment studies with financing from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). These assessments followed post-disaster needs-assessment guidelines that were developed jointly by the European Commission, the United Nations Development Group, and the World Bank. Based on the findings, the Government of Türkiye launched abroad municipal infrastructure recovery program with a build-back-better approach and selected municipal water and sanitation works for financing under the TERRP.

As part of the World Bank’s support to the Government of Türkiye in the context of the TERRP, a virtual knowledge exchange was organized on May 27, 2025, with the support from the Japan–World Bank Program for Mainstreaming Disaster Risk Management in Developing Countries. This online event connected representatives from ILBANK with officers responsible for water and sanitation at Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT). Japan and Türkiye share a geological characteristic: they are both highly prone to earthquakes and seismic activity, which can cause severe damage and losses, without resilience measures in place. This virtual event aimed to enable Turkish representatives to learn from Japan’s comprehensive policies, planning practices, and engineering standards for water and sanitation infrastructure that significantly reduce the vulnerability of people and assets.

During the virtual event, Turkish and Japanese government representatives exchanged lessons learned and experience on building resilient water and wastewater infrastructure. Discussions covered seismic code requirements for water, wastewater, and stormwater networks; innovative design features that boost post‑earthquake service delivery; and strategies for risk‑oriented planning, technical design, and emergency response at the municipal level. Building on these discussions, MLIT experts shared detailed damage‑assessment methodologies for network components—which was a critical task for Turkish officials in the aftermath of the February 2023 earthquakes. Participants also discussed reinforcement and retrofitting techniques for sewage systems to prevent contamination, along with the cost–benefit analysis of resilience interventions. MLIT experts addressed questions on resilient pipe materials, post-disaster assessment procedures, and approaches to risk-oriented planning. approaches to risk-oriented planning.

This knowledge-exchange event and the lessons shared by the Japanese counterparts may inform the implementation of the TERRP, as well as future application to Turkish regulations and standards for resilient municipal infrastructure. ILBANK plans to document lessons learned on-site through the municipal earthquake recovery projects funded by the World Bank and other IFIs and to share these findings via similar future knowledge-exchange platforms. By learning from each other’s experiences, Japan and Türkiye are strengthening their capacity to protect communities and critical services from seismic risks, building a safer and more resilient future together.