Latest news on Japan's Earthquake and Tsunami

1.0 Global impact: Historic quake shoves insurers into unprecedented territory

As Japan's Meteorological Agency upgrades the magnitude of the country's biggest recorded earthquake from 8.8 to 9.0, several estimates place global insured losses from last Friday's quake at US$10 billion to US$50 billion while many more insurance industry players demur that it is too early to assess the losses. So far, neither the Japanese government nor the country's insurers have provided provisional estimates of insured losses.

2. Local impact: All eyes on payouts by domestic insurers

Attention is focused on Japanese domestic insurers, for which earthquake insurance claim payments from Friday's devastating quake could exceed 100 billion yen (US$1.2 billion), reportsDow Jones. The estimate is based on the increase in the number of earthquake insurance policyholders in the country since 1995.

3. Nuclear damage: Insurers likely to be spared from liability

Liability costs associated with damage at the quake-hit Fukushima nuclear plant will ultimately be borne by the Japanese government instead of the private insurance market, reports The Wall Street Journal.

4. Lloyd's: London watching Japan closely

The Lloyd's Market Association (LMA) says that it is monitoring closely the effects of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan and adds that it is too early to give any accurate assessment of the likely impact on the Lloyd's market.
5. Cat bonds: Up to US$1.5 bln at stake in quake

Financial investors, in the wake of  last Friday's massive earthquake in northeastern Japan, could lose millions in investments in catastrophe bonds that have more than US$1 billion in exposure to Japanese earthquakes, reports Reuters.