As per the CRESTA Industry Loss Index (CLIX), which provides data on non-US cat events that have generated industry losses above USD $1 billion, the Noto Peninsula Earthquake that struck Japan on January 1, 2024, is the only event that was added to the firm’s loss database during Q124.
The initial estimate of the insured loss from the event stands at $1.9 billion, therefore making it the only event to exceed the CLIX loss capture threshold of USD $1 billion during the quarter.
On January 1, 2024, the Noto Peninsula earthquake shook the area, which resulted in over 240 casualties and caused widespread property damage to over 4,000 properties, according to Japan’s Fire and Disaster Management Agency (FDMA).
Moreover, the CLIX also highlighted how some cat events that occurred in 2023 experienced significant upward loss revisions.
Among these are the severe convective storms (SCS) that struck Northern Italy in July 2023 which saw the insured loss
estimate revised to $4.8 billion, up from $2.7 billion in CRESTA’s previous release.
The storms struck the regions of Lombardy, Veneto, Friuli-Venezia-Giulia, Piemonte and Emilia-Romagna, and to a
lesser degree, Austria and Slovenia.
Additionally, a further two SCS events in Europe, storms “Lambert-Kay” in June 2023 and “Denis” in August 2023, also saw upward revisions to their insured loss figures which now exceed the $1 billion level.
These events mostly impacted Germany, Switzerland and Austria.
Matthias Saenger, Manager at CRESTA CLIX, commented: “Our most recent update shows a benign first quarter with only the Noto earthquake exceeding our capturing trigger of USD 1bn. However, there were significant upward revisions to some of the insured loss figures for events occurring in 2023. Event loss figures for large and unprecedent events in particular, such as the Kahramanmaras earthquake in Turkey and the Caronte hailstorms in Italy, have the potential to increase substantially over a period of time. This demonstrates the importance of regular reviews of industry losses, which is something that CRESTA puts a great amount of effort into.”
Adding: ”Our data also show that severe convective storms are no longer purely an issue of frequency but
also of severity, with multi-billion event losses becoming more common. It is time to consider no longer referring
to severe convective storms as ‘secondary perils’.”
