Indications so far are that damage has been relatively minorfrom the 6.6 magnitude earthquake that struck the big island ofHawaii yesterday, with the overall insured losses unknown, said aspokeswoman for the Insurance Information Institute.

And one investment bank analyst said severe insured losses arenot expected to result.

Bear Stearns property-casualty analyst David Small said that hisanalysis of market share data from A.M. Best suggests the eventwill have limited impact on the publicly traded insurers he coversand the largest market share players are either not U.S. companiesor not publicly traded.

Claire Wilkinson, spokesperson for the Insurance InformationInstitute, said it remains uncertain whether or not the loss figurewill exceed the $25 million threshold the Insurance Services Officeuses to define a catastrophe.

Mr. Small also wrote that “further decreasing the potential thatthis will become a major insurance event is the fact that totalpremiums written in the state are fairly modest.”

Total homeowners premium in Hawaii is $252 million, comparedwith $4.9 billion for Florida, he said.

The top three commercial multiperil nonliability writers on theisland by market share are Allianz of America Inc., 39 percent; CNAInsurance Cos., 22 percent; and State Farm, 15 percent.

Top homeowners' writers in the state are State Farm, 25 percent;Zephyr Insurance Co., 21 percent; and CNA Insurance, 10percent.

A.M. Best also estimates that between 10 percent and 15 percentof homeowners nationwide have earthquake insurance.

In a report issued Friday the ratings agency said that becauseof the generally low take-up rates, a quake would tend to do moredamage to the economy than would a more fully insured catastropheof equivalent insured loss.

A 6.6 earthquake struck yesterday morning off the Kohala coastand lasted for almost a minute followed by 50 aftershocks. Itknocked out power throughout the state, including the electricityto the city of Honolulu on the neighboring island of Oahu.