????其中，日本3月份的地震及海嘯造成了15，000人死亡，經(jīng)濟損失高達2，100億美元，成為了今年災(zāi)害損失來源的罪魁禍?zhǔn)?。這場災(zāi)難比2005年“卡特里娜”颶風(fēng)（Katrina）造成的1，250億美元的經(jīng)濟損失更為慘重，同時創(chuàng)造了歷史新高。

????日本地震引起的損失同樣導(dǎo)致了保險業(yè)利潤的欠收。慕尼黑再保險公司（Munich Re）稱，今年上半年保損飆升至600億美元——這一數(shù)字是過去10年年均保損的5倍。

????4月，伯克希爾?哈撒韋公司（Berkshire Hathaway，BRKA）表示，鑒于日本震災(zāi)及其他災(zāi)害（主要發(fā)生在亞洲），公司今年將發(fā)表保險承保虧損報告。這是該公司近10年來第一次發(fā)表類似報告。該公司去年還曾重金押注過慕尼黑再保險公司。

????盡管如此，日本震災(zāi)（對保險業(yè)）造成的損失還是要低于卡特里娜颶風(fēng)。慕尼黑再保險公司說，3月震災(zāi)引起的保險索賠達300億美元，相比而言，官方統(tǒng)計卡特里娜颶風(fēng)所引發(fā)的索賠高達440億美元。另外，10年前由世貿(mào)中心遭恐怖襲擊造成的索賠估計也在400億美元上下。

????問題是現(xiàn)在根本無法預(yù)計今年的災(zāi)損將嚴(yán)重到什么程度。慕尼黑再保險公司說，通?！扒鞍肽甑臑?zāi)損要比后半年的低，因為后半年將是北大西洋和西北太平洋颶風(fēng)和臺風(fēng)頻發(fā)的時段”?？磥斫酉聛淼膸讉€月注定是多事之秋，而且還是多災(zāi)多難。

????Most of the losses this year stem from the March earthquake and tsunami in Japan, which caused more than 15,000 deaths and accounted for $210 billion in economic losses. That is another record, beating out the $125 billion in losses caused by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

????Losses tied to the quake have already taken a toll on insurance industry profits. First-half insured losses hit $60 billion, Munich Re said – five times the annual average over the past decade.

????Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA), which last year took a big stake in Munich Re, said in April that it would likely report an insurance underwriting loss this year for the first time in almost a decade, thanks to the Japanese disaster and other calamities, mostly in Asia.

????quake stands to be less costly than Katrina. Munich Re said insured claims from March's disaster stand at around $30 billion, compared with the $44 billion the government estimated for Katrina. Insured losses on the World Trade Center terrorist attacks a decade ago have been estimated at around $40 billion, by comparison.

????The question now is how high this year's record toll might rise. Munich said first-half losses "are generally lower than second-half losses, which are often affected by hurricanes in the North Atlantic and typhoons in the Northwest Pacific." Just another way in which the coming months promise to be eventful, and not in a good way.