The Repercussions of the February 6 Earthquake on the Primary  Labour Market in the Affected Provinces

Sosyal Siyaset Konferansları Dergisi, sa.90, ss.59-105, 2026 (TRDizin)

While the short-term economic impacts of earthquakes are widely recognised as severe, their medium- and long

term consequences remain controversial. Although the international literature on disasters is extensive, it primarily

focuses on short-term shocks and general recovery patterns, often neglecting sectoral and structural differences

across regions. In Turkey, existing research is largely confined to macroeconomic indicators, leaving a notable gap in

microlevel analyses of labor market dynamics and sectoral specialisation. This limitation restricts a comprehensive

understanding of the effects of disasters on regional labour markets.

This study addresses this gap by applying the Location Quotient technique to analyse changes in sectoral employ

ment concentration across regions over time. The analysis covers 11 provinces affected by the earthquake and uses

data from the 2022-2023 statistical yearbooks of the Social Security Institution and the Household labour Force

Survey. The findings reveal a decline in sectoral specialisation in Adıyaman, Hatay, Kahramanmaraş, and Osmaniye.

Although temporary employment gains were observed in the construction sector, these were insufficient to offset

losses in the industrial and service sectors. Overall, the results demonstrated that declining sectoral specialisation

weakens Turkey’s regional recovery capacity beyond the short term and that the study contributes significantly to

the literature at both the methodological and empirical levels.