New housing in earthquake-hit parts of Turkey 'won't exceed 3 or 4 storeys' after construction backlash

New housing in parts of Turkey devastated by this month’s earthquake will be "no more than three or four storeys high", the Turkish housing minister told local media on Monday.

Murat Kurum, the minister for environment, urbanisation and climate change, visited the Nurdagi and Islahiye districts of Gaziantep this weekend, which were heavily damaged in the earthquake and where temporary housing for some 32,000 people is being built.

Kurum's assurance comes amid intense scrutiny of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government for permitting poor construction in earthquake-prone areas after a 7.8-magnitude quake shook southern Turkey and northern Syria earlier this month.

At least 46,000 people have died across both countries, with an untold number of bodies still lying under the rubble.

The quakes devastated southern Turkey in the dead of winter, with overnight temperatures near freezing, leaving many emergency tents inadequate for the homeless.

More than 900,000 buildings in the area have been inspected since the quake, Kurum said, with buildings standing but with significant damage to be demolished.

Erdogan on Monday promised a speedy rebuild, with 200,000 homes to be built in earthquake-hit areas from March.

But experts warn that similar levels of destruction could occur again next quake if the rebuild is conducted hastily.

"When they say 'we start the construction in a month, we finish it in a year', without the city planning work, frankly, this means that the disaster we are experiencing has not been noticed," said Nusret Suna, deputy head of the Chamber of Civil Engineers.

"It takes months to make city plans ... it is very wrong to ignore those plans."

Agencies contributed to this report.