Natural catastrophes

15.5, earthquake, fatalities

China: the earthquake that struck Sichuan Province, killing thousands of people, caused an estimated $20bn in damage - most of it uncovered by insurance - a catastrophic risk modelling firm said. Besides, given the precarious state of the US economy, aid agencies say the ability of Americans to help the Chinese people recover and rebuild may be limited. Though the risk modelling firm, AIR Worldwide, cautioned that there is a high level of uncertainty in insured loss estimates in China, they believe only $1bn of that – 5% of the total assessment – was insured. The devastating earthquake raised fears over the stability of dams and infrastructure in the afflicted mountainous area, and prompted a warning that nuclear facilities closest to the epicentre may have been damaged. French nuclear experts from the Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety said they could not rule out the possibility that the 7.9 magnitude tremor had caused damage to several nuclear fuel and research sites, some as close as 100km to the epicentre in Sichuan province’s southwest. The city of Mianyang, one of the worst affected areas in the epicentre zone, is home to the headquarters of China’s nuclear weapons design industry. Authorities said it was unlikely China’s four main nuclear plants had been badly damaged as they all are more than 1000km from the epicentre.