When we think of terrorist attacks and the insured value of theassociated losses, Americans tend to go straight to 9/11—and withgood cause. Yet experts say the majority of terrorism attacks—andthe costliest—occur outside of the United States. Many of theseevents played out on live television in the days before YouTube andinstant viewing; and some of them may be seen on the Internettoday.

The following are the Top 10 costliest terror attacks in recenthistory by insured property losses, as comprised by Swiss Re andthe Insurance Information Institute.

According to I.I.I., insured property losses include bodilyinjury and aviation hull losses. Figures have been updated to 2012dollars by I.I.I., using the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPIInflation Calculator.

10. Dawson's Field Hijackings

Insured Property Losses: $165 million

On Sep. 12, 1970, Palestinian militants hijacked, then blew upthree planes—a Swissair DC-8, a TWA Boeing 707, and a BOAC VC-10.The hijacked planes were landed at the Dawson's Field airstrip, aformer RAF base in the desert at Zarqa, Jordan, and hostages wereheld there for up to six days. Some of the passengers were releasedearly on; another 40 passengers, detained as hostages, were movedfrom the planes just prior to the explosions.

Members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine(PFLP) issued a 72-hour deadline for the release of seven militantsbeing held by Switzerland, Britain and Germany, but blew up theplanes prior to the deadline saying they believed “imperialisticagents” were attempting to attack and “foil” the plan. All thehostages were released on Sept. 30.

9. Oklahoma City Bombing

Insured Property Losses: $189 million

In the worst act of homegrown terrorism in the nation's history,former Army soldier and security guard Timothy McVeigh blew up theAlfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City at 9:02a.m. on April 19, 1995, after parking a bomb-laden Ryder rentaltruck in front. The blast destroyed a third of the multi-flooredbuilding and damaged more than 300 buildings nearby.

Three men were eventually captured and convicted for the plot,which aimed to take revenge for the Waco, Texas shootout two yearsearlier. The convicted men were McVeigh; Terry Nichols, who helpedbuild the bomb using agricultural fertilizer, diesel fuel and otherchemicals; and Michael Fortier, whom the FBI says knew of the plan.The FBI investigation, one of the bureau's most “exhaustive,”involved more than 28,000 interviews; 43,000 investigative leads;and in all, nearly a billion pieces of information.

8. Air India Flight 182 Explosion

Insured Property Losses: $209

On June 23, 1985, Air India Flight 182 from Toronto to Londonexploded and plunged into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast ofIreland, killing everyone on board. Five months later, two Sikhextremists were arrested on weapons, explosive, and conspiracycharges connected with the mid-air bombing: Talwinder Singh Parmarand Inderjit Singh Reyat. Charges were eventually dropped againstParmar, whom Canadian authorities believed to be the leader of theconspiracy; he was killed by police in India in 1992.

Reyat received only a fine on a minor explosives charge. In1991, he was sentenced to prison for 10 years for making a bombintended for another Air India flight, which exploded instead inTokyo's Narita airport, killing two baggage handlers. Two yearsafter his release, Reyat pleaded guilty to manslaughter inconnection with the AI Flight 182 bombing and was sentenced to fiveyears.

7. Docklands Bombing

Insured Property Losses: $336 million

The Irish Republican Army took credit for a bombing on Feb. 9,1996 in the Docklands area of London that killed two men anddestroyed a six-story building. The blast not only shatteredwindows in surrounding office buildings, but also a 17-monthceasefire that had been structured by Irish, British and Americanleaders in attempts to secure peace in Northern Ireland.

The half-ton bomb had been left in a small truck near theDocklands Light Railway, and the blast was felt as far as thelandmark Canary Wharf Tower, a half-mile away.

A 29-year-old bricklayer, James McArdle of County Armagh inNorthern Ireland, was eventually found guilty of conspiracy tocause explosions in June 1998 and was sentenced to 25 years injail; murder charges were dropped. The IRA agreed to anotherceasefire 18 months later, and peace was negotiated in May 1998with the Good Friday Agreement, approved by voters in Ireland andNorthern Ireland. McArdle was released in July 2000 under theagreement.

6. Bandaranaike Airport Attack

Insured Property Losses: $517 million

On July 24, 2001, ethnic Tamil rebel forces the LiberationTigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), commonly known as the Tamil Tigers,used mortars, guns, and explosives to destroy three airliners andeight military aircraft, and heavily damage three civilian aircraftin a dawn raid at Colombo International Airport in Sri Lanka. Theraid destroyed half of the country's commercial airliners andclosed the airport, with flights diverted to India. Killed in theattack were guerrillas, civilians and military personnel. The SriLanka Air Force also lost several planes at a nearby airbase.

The attack coincided with the anniversary of anti-Tamil riots in1983. The LTTE is also suspected of the May 1991 assassination ofIndian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in the Indian state of TamilNadu, reportedly an act of revenge against India for sending apeacekeeping force that ended up fighting the rebels. The civil warthat divided the country for decades came to a halt when governmentforces crushed the rebels in 2009. On Sept. 21, the Tamils facedtheir first provincial court election, a step they hope will leadto self-government.

5. 1993 World Trade CenterBombing

Insured Property Losses: $810 million

On Feb. 26, 1993, a car bomb exploded in an underground garageat the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan, killing six peopleand injuring more than 650 others, who suffered mostly smokeinhalation and minor burns as they exited the burning skyscraper.The explosion, which the FBI termed “a deadly dress rehearsal for9/11,” was meant to topple one of the Twin Towers, which would thenknock over the other as it fell. Instead, the explosion created a100-foot crater in the building, trapping hundreds and forcing theevacuation of more than 50,000 workers, and was felt from the WallStreet area to Ellis and Liberty islands in New York Harbor.

Some 700 FBI agents investigated the bombing worldwide,eventually uncovering a dual plot by a group of Islamicfundamentalists to destroy the Word Trade Center, plus a series ofNew York landmarks, including the U.N. building and the Holland andLincoln Tunnels. The mastermind, Ramzi Yousef, was captured inPakistan in February 1995. His uncle, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, wouldlater assist al Qaeda in returning to the U.S. to complete the WTCdestruction on Sept. 11, 2001.

4. Baltic Exchange Bombing

Insured Property Losses: $870 million

On 10 April 1992 at 9:20 p.m., the Irish Republican Armydetonated a truck bomb outside the offices of the Baltic Exchangein London, killing three people and causing major damage to thebuilding's façade and surrounding buildings. Another 91 people wereinjured. The site is near the Bank of England and one of themetropolis's main train stations, Liverpool Street.

The one-ton bomb, hidden in a large white truck, was made fromfertilizer and Semtex, a brand of plastic explosive. Today, aplaque marks the explosion spot near the Gherkin (the towering,pickle-like skyscraper once home to Swiss Re), which was built onthe site of the Baltic Exchange.

3. 1996 Manchester Bombing

Insured Property Losses: $966 million

On June 15, 1996, the Irish Republican Army detonated a car bombin central Manchester, England, destroying a shopping mall andinjuring some 200 people with flying glass. It was the seventhattack by the IRA since breaking its ceasefire in February—theDocklands bombing, which killed two—and at the time, was thesecond-largest terrorism attack on the British mainland.

A local television station received a telephone warning at 10:00BST, just as the mall was filling up with Saturday shoppers, withthe bomb exploding around 11:20 BST. In 2006, British policereleased a video clip taken from a police helicopter hovering abovethe crime scene, showing the full impact of the explosion. Theamount of damage done to buildings in the shopping mall districteventually led to a total revamping of the area. Within 10 weeks,the Irish Republicans had planted five other devices throughoutLondon.

2. Bishopsgate Bombing

Insured Property Losses: $1.2 billion

On Apr. 24, 1993, the Irish Republican Army detonated a truckbomb in the Bishopsgate area of the London financial district nearthe former National Westminster Tower, the city's second-tallestbuilding, killing one person and injuring 44. Nearby damagesincluded a church and the Liverpool Street underground station. Amedieval church, St. Ethelburga's, was destroyed.

Police had received coded warnings, as in similar IRA attacks,and were still evacuating the area when the bomb exploded. Most ofthe injured were security guards, builders, maintenance staff, andfinancial district workers who had come to their offices to workover the weekend.

The nearby Baltic Exchange, damaged in a car bomb blast a yearearlier, had just reopened after repairs and was damaged again bythe truck detonation. The explosion and ensuing repairs requiredmassive payouts by insurance companies that contributed to a crisisin the industry and the near-collapse of Lloyd's of London.

1. September 11 Attacks

Insured Property Losses: $24.4 billion

On Sept. 11, 2001, in the worst terrorist attack on Americansoil, a group of 19 terrorists connected to the Islamic extremistgroup al-Qaeda hijacked four airliners and carried out long-plannedsuicide attacks against financial and political targets in theU.S., including the Twin Towers of the Word Trade Center in lowerManhattan and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.; one plane crashedinto a Pennsylvania field. Nearly 3,000 people were killed in theattacks, including more than 400 police officers andfirefighters.

The 110-floor Twin Towers were both completely destroyed in theattacks, along with 3 World Trade Center and 7 World Trade Center.The U.S. Customs House (6 World Trade Center), 4 World TradeCenter, 5 World Trade Center, St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church,and both pedestrian bridges connecting buildings were severelydamaged. The Deutsche Bank Building on 130 Liberty Street waspartially damaged and demolished later. The two buildings of theWorld Financial Center also suffered damage.