Christchurch Earthquake to Cost $5 Billion

Reuters is reporting that Monday's earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand, likely caused an additional $3 billion to $5 billion in insured losses on top of the damage from two previous quakes, according to catastrophe modeling company Eqecat.

Notably, New Zealand government officials have reportedly said that parts of Christchurch will have to be abandoned following the latest quake.

The quake was the third major one to hit New Zealand in the last nine months, and Eqecat told the wire service that the three events combined caused anywhere from $15 billion to $23 billion in insured loss.

Had Monday's quake occurred closer in time to the major February quake, losses would have been lesser, Eqecat said. However, the new quake will have caused fresh damage to already repaired buildings.

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