Japan Earthquake and Tsunami - Update

21 Mar 11

With all that is happening in Japan, you have to admire the resilience of the Japanese as they continue to cope with what seem to be insurmountable problems. The massive task of clean-up and finding missing countrymen after the devastating earthquake and tsunami on 11 March continues, as do the problems at the nuclear power stations.

The nuclear situation continues to be of enormous concern but it appears as though there is some progress being made with 300 engineers battling inside the danger zone to salvage the six-reactor Fukushima plant. Technicians have managed to attach a power cable to the No. 1 and No. 2 reactors, hoping to restore electricity later in the day prior to an attempt to switch the pumps on.

Reconstruction will take a long time as roads, rail, power and ports have been crippled across much of Japan's northeast and estimates of the cost of the multiplate disasters have leapt to as much as $170bn. Over 80,000 buildings have been damaged and nearly 5,000 destroyed. A lot of foreign Governments are urging their citizens to flee Tokyo in the wake of the of radiation leakage and mounting concern over the possibility of a nuclear
catastrophe.

Our Japanese associate office, Nagamatsu Inc., have done a remarkable job in very trying circumstances but they are well prepared and have put their CAT plan into action. They have split the task of assessment into two CAT teams. One team, headed by Kazuyoshi Nagamatsu, is focusing on large commercial lines. The other team, headed by Takashi Nagamatsu, is focusing on small commercial and personal lines claims.

For the large commercial claims, primarily property damage and business interruption, Nagamatsu Inc. surveyors and adjusters have already started to conduct preliminary site surveys where access is available. Where access is not available, they have held initial meetings to review the situation and to make a plan for future handling.

The personal lines team, currently consists of six teams of adjusters and architects and they have been conducting site surveys since the day after the earthquake. Nagamatsu's CAT team has also been supplying manpower to more
than half of the local insurers and have already assessed over 160 claims.

Stuart Devine, Regional Director for South-East Asia, is coordinating our response on the ground in conjunction with Nagamatsu Inc. and he has been and is in very close and constant contact with Kazu Nagamatsu throughout the last ten days to ensure the most appropriate course of action. Cunningham Lindsey's CAT team members are mobilising immediately to support both Nagamatsu and our international clients. We are expecting to further deploy these extra resources during the course of this week.

Please don't hesitate to contact us if we can be of any assistance.

Cat Director Stuart Devine (South-East Asia) Mobile: +65 8399 0213 sdevine@cl-int.com

Kazuyoshi Nagamatsu (Japan) Mobile: +81 90 1050 6406 Office: +81 45 432 1034 kazu.nagamatsu@nagamatsu.net

 

Recognising the impact this event will have on the global insurance markets, contact can also be made with our Global Catastrophe Response Team:

Ben Price (London) Mobile: +44 7831 217 510 bprice@cl-int.com	Damon Bennett (Australia) Mobile: +61 411 485 513 damon.bennett@cl-au.com
Markus Montigny (Munich) Mobile: +49 176 2045 1671 mmontigny@cl-int.com	Peter Sanderson (New York) Mobile: +1 646 270 1490 psanderson@cl-int.com

 

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Cunningham Lindsey maintains a comprehensive network throughout Asia with offices in Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam and associates in Guam, Japan, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.