March 11th marks a year since the tsunami generated by a 9.0 magnitude earthquake killed more than 15,000 people, displaced thousands more and caused radiation leaks at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. Today’s graphic lists the key events during this tragedy. It also shows the locations of the different disasters.

 

Natural disasters like March’s earthquake in Japan will cost the global economy a record $350 billion this year, with losses for the insurance industry second only to 2005 when Hurrican Katrina hit New Orleans. Today’s graphic ranks the ten most costly insured disaster losses in 2011.

By Abi Sekimitsu, Editor, Japan

The three-day Reuters Rebuilding Japan Summit concluded on June 22nd with a packed Newsmaker event for our clients with guest speaker Nissan/Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn and moderated by Deputy Editor-in-Chief Paul Ingrassia. The flamboyant Ghosn, a rare celebrity CEO in a country mostly populated by drab, conservative corporate executives, drew a standing-room-only crowd at Thomson Reuters Japan’s Akasaka office. Interviewed by Paul – a veteran “car guy” who has reported on the automobile industry for over two decades – Ghosn said he saw significant higher sales for next fiscal year after Nissan restored production more quickly than expected after the March 11 earthquake flattened one of its plants in Fukushima.

He also praised the Japanese people, saying that the quake showed they were unmatched in their speed, execution and dedication – a view shared by Toyota executive vice president Yukitoshi Funo, who earlier spoke at the Reuters Rebuilding Japan Summit.

“When you clarify for the people the priority and the vision, the Japanese workforce is second to none,” Ghosn told the audience. Paul later took questions from the audience and from viewers of the live webcast of the event. (more…)

How do events like the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan impact insurance law? How is the insurance world keeping up with the ever-changing social media landscape?

For answers to these questions and more, Legal Current turned to attorney and author, Steven Plitt. Steven is the author of several insurance related publications including Couch on Insurance as well as his latest book, Practical Tools for Handling Insurance Cases.

Listen to the full interview with Steven by clicking on the player below or downloading it on itunes.

With concerns of radiation spreading through the country growing over the weekend, today’s graphic gives some information on the likelihood of the US being affected by the nuclear meltdown.

Don’t forget that Reuters has live coverage of the news from Japan.

Follow Reuters Japan on twitter.

 

Today’s graphic gives an in-depth timeline to the events surrounding the meltdown in the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant. This is some pretty scary stuff and we hope those in charge can get it under control to minimize the damage.

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Today’s graphic of the day highlights major disaster costs. There are a few interesting things to note in this graphic. First of all, the estimated insurance losses associated with the Japan earthquake only take into account the earthquake, but does not include the losses from tsunami or nuclear damage. Taking into account all three, we can assume the projected figures would be significantly higher.

Numbers like these are pretty frightening. It makes it even more important that we help the people who have been affected by this crisis. Prism Money has a great breakdown of all the ways you can donate to relief funds.

 

But in short, here are some quick links to the different organizations:

American Red Cross

Shelterbox

Save the Children

GlobalGiving

Convoy of Hope

Salvation Army

Give2Asia

International Medical Corps

Socks for Japan

Here is a roundup of recent coverage surrounding the tragedy in Japan:

• Join a live web chat with Reuters Environment Correspondent Alister Doyle at 12pm ET.

• Analysis: Japan quake risks severe near-term economic damage

“When we talk about natural disasters, we tend to see an initial sharp drop in production… then you tend to have a V-shaped rebound. But initially everyone underestimates the damage,” said Michala Marcussen, head of global economics at Societe Generale.

“Power supply is a critical factor. If power production output is damaged in a sustainable fashion, that could have a durable impact on the economy.”
Tokyo Electric Power Co (9501.T) said on Sunday it may have to conduct rolling blackouts in winter, in addition to summer.

“The earthquake will bring lots of things to a halt. We are going to see quite a dent on GDP, blackouts will lead to a sharp contraction of production,” said Janwillem Acket, group chief economist at Julius Baer.

• Factbox: What is happening inside Japan’s nuclear reactors?
• Follow the Japan tag on Reuters.com

• Japan stock funds’ forward march may be derailed by quake

The plunge in Japanese shares threatens to arrest a nascent revival of investor interest in the country, after wiping out a big chunk of Japan-focused equity funds’ one-year returns.

Some of the $1.5 billion that flowed into the funds such as Fidelity’s Japan Advantage fund and Nomura’s Japan Brand Equity fund over the past three months, may reverse course as investors weigh the economic impact of the country’s worst disaster since World War Two.

Doctors check X-rays of a patient who was injured by earthquake and tsunami, at the Red Cross hospital in Ishinomaki, northern Japan March 14, 2011. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

Today’s graphic gives some important context and information regarding the recent events experienced in the South Pacific. Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone who is affected by the earthquake and tsunami.

For more information and constant updates surrounding the events, follow AlertNet’s live blog.