Even before another series of earthquakes struck Chile last week, global reinsurers were tallying their losses from the Feb. 27 event and providing independent estimates of its impact for the entire insurance industry.
On Thursday morning, a total of a least three quakes, including a magnitude 6.9 quake, shook the central part of the country, including Santiago, the U.S. Geological Survey reported. The institute initially announced a magnitude 7.2 quake, but later lowered that intensity rating.
Earlier in the week, Swiss Re and Munich Re each said industry losses from the Feb. 27 magnitude 8.8 quake could fall between $4 billion and $7 billion. Swiss Re said its own loss from the event could hit $500 million, while Munich Re estimated its loss at EUR400 million, or $545 million.
Meanwhile, in Bermuda, PartnerRe Ltd. and Everest Re both said the industry figures could be as high as $10 billion, eclipsing earlier estimates of the catastrophe modeling firms–the highest of which had come from Oakland, Calif.-based EQECAT.
While EQECAT put out a range of $3-to-$8 billion, PartnerRe said a $6-to-$10 billion range is possible for the industry overall and Everest cited a $4-to-$10 billion range.
Estimating their own losses, PartnerRe developed a $220-to-$320 million range, and Everest put out a similar company estimate of $225 million.
Also in Bermuda, RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. said the financial impact of the Feb. 27 earthquake and losses from windstorm Xynthia, which hit Western Europe on February 26-28, would "be significant and could be material" for the company. The reinsurer also said, however, that assuming the non-occurrence of additional severe insured catastrophe events in the remainder of the quarter, it expected to report a profit.
All the reinsurer statements came before Thursday's series of quakes, the first of which was reported at 11:39 a.m. local time.
The second quake, with a magnitude of 6.7, rattled Chile sixteen minutes later and the last, a quake of magnitude 6.0, happened at 12:06 p.m.
Bill Stott, a freelance editor living in Santiago, said the latest temblor "was the biggest replica or aftershock that we've felt so far," and that the coastal city of Puerto Montt in southern Chile, located at the northern end of the Reloncav? Sound, had been placed under a tsunami watch as a result.
Mr. Stott, who was outside at the time of the aftershock, did not report seeing any damage, but described a swaying sensation underfoot akin to being on a skateboard, a "feeling of not being in control."
As soon as the shaking stopped, he said he watched as people got on their cell phones to see how others had fared, "but the cell phones weren't working."
Risk Management Solutions in Newark, Calif., said immediate damage reports were scarce, placing the location of the first quake last week in the Libertador O'Higgins region of central Chile.
USGS said it was 90 miles southwest of Santiago and 88 miles south-southwest of Valparaiso.
RMS said towns that may have been affected by the shaking include La Estrella, Litueche, Navidad, Marchihue, Reten Llico, Rapel, Poblacion and Pichilemu.
There were initial reports of windows rattling in Santiago, but there been no initial reports of damage in the capital city.
(Additional reporting by Daniel Hays.)
Separately, the reinsurers also announced preliminary estimates of their losses from winter storm Xynthia, which hit Western Europe on February 26-28. They were:
- Swiss Re: $100 million (EUR73 million)
- Munich Re: $136 million (EUR$100 million)
- PartnerRe: $40-to-$70 million
- Everest Re: $25 million
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