Japan Earthquake and Pacific Tsunamis

Miyagi Prefecture, in northern Japan, March 11, 2011. (Yomiuri Shimbun via AP Images)

Initial Japanese media reports indicate the 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami which struck northeast of Tokyo on Friday, March 11, 2011 resulted in a major loss of life, and has caused widespread property damage.  Given the severity of Japan’s natural disaster, this quake and its aftermath could emerge as one of the costliest insurance events of the past century.  It comes as insurers and reinsurers have in the past 13 months responded to three severe quakes, each of which generated billions of dollars in insured losses (February 2010 in Chile as well as the September 2010 and February 2011 earthquakes in New Zealand).

Press Release

• Japan Earthquake Could Be One of the Costliest In World History

Issues Updates

• Earthquakes: Risk and Insurance Issues
• Catastrophes: Insurance Issues

Facts and Stats

• Earthquakes and Tsunamis
• Catastrophes: Global
• Largest Japanese life insurers
• Largest Japanese nonlife insurance
• Major Nuclear Incidents (see chart below)

Presentations

• Japan’s Great Tohoku Earthquake: Scale, Scope and Insurance and Reinsurance Markets in the Aftermath of the March 11, 2011 Earthquake
• Earthquakes - Japan
• Earthquakes - World

Video

• Dr. Hartwig Talks about the Insurance Impact of the Earthquake in Japan
• CNBC Interview with Dr. Hartwig about who pays for the insured loses of the quake
• Al Jazeera Interview with Dr. Hartwig about Japan Earthquake

Audio

• A.M. Best interview with Dr. Hartwig on the Impact of Japanese Earthquake
• NPR interview with Dr. Hartwig: Japan's Quake May Result In Huge Insurance Claims

Article

• Insurance Coverage for Nuclear Accidents

Blog

• In Japan, the public bears most of the risk of earthquakes

NUCLEAR INCIDENTS

The International Atomic Energy Agency rates the severity of nuclear incidents on a scale from one (indicating an “anomaly”) to seven (indicating a “major event”). The scale considers an event’s impact based on three criteria: its affect on people and the environment; whether it caused unsafe levels of radiation in a facility; or if preventative measures did not function as intended. Scales six and seven designate full meltdowns, where the nuclear fuel reactor core overheats and melts. Partial meltdowns, in which the fuel is damaged, are rated a four or five.

The 1986 Chernobyl accident in the former Soviet Union was the only incident to rate seven. The incident killed 56 people directly and thousands of others through cancer and other diseases. The 1957 explosion of dried radioactive waste at the Maya Nuclear power plant near the Soviet city of Kyshtym in 1957 was the only other incident to receive a rating over five. It forced the evacuation of 10,000 people and resulted in at least 200 fatalities.

The 1979 Three Mile Island accident in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, the worst nuclear accident in the U.S., was designated a five but was not the only incident to revive such a rating. Insurers paid about $71 million in liability claims and litigation costs associated with the accident. In addition to the liability payments to the public under the Price-Anderson Act, $300 million was paid by a pool of insurers to the operator of the damaged nuclear power plant under its property insurance policy.

The chart below ranks major nuclear events by economic losses. These include total economic losses, including destruction of property, emergency response, environmental remediation, evacuation, lost product, fines, and court and insurance claims. The March, 11, 2011 Japan disaster is not included as the affects are ongoing.

If you would like to help, the American Red Cross assists with domestic and international disasters every day; you can donate here.

If you are searching for friends or family members in Japan, there are several options:

Inquiries concerning U.S. citizens living or traveling in Japan should be referred to the U.S. Department of State, Office of Overseas Citizens Services at 1-888-407-4747 or 202-647-5225.

For inquiries about relatives living in Japan who are not U.S. citizens, encourage the members of your community to keep calling or to try contacting other family members who live in the region. Even though communication networks overloaded right now, the situation may change and access to mobile networks and the Internet may improve.

(Courtesy CNET.com)