April earthquakes in Japan led to the first half’s largest damage bill, totalling $US25 billion ($32.8 billion) including $US5.9 billion ($7.7 billion) in insured losses, Munich Re says.

Overall losses for the six months to June 30 were $US70 billion ($91.8 billion), up from $US59 billion ($77.4 billion) in the corresponding period of last year.

The twin quakes on Japan’s Kyushu island, Canadian wildfires, storms in Europe and the US, and an earthquake in Ecuador were the half-year’s major natural catastrophes.

About $US27 billion ($35.4 billion) of overall losses were covered by insurance, compared with $US19 billion ($24.9 billion) in the first half last year.

“The fading El Nino again showed its teeth, with forest fires in Canada caused by the dry conditions and heat, and a series of storms in Texas bringing billion-dollar losses,” Munich Re Head of Geo Risks Research Unit Peter Hoeppe said.

“The complete absence of tropical cyclones in the northwestern Pacific in the first half of the year is also likely to have been influenced by El Nino.”

Fatalities fell sharply to 3800 in the half from 21,000 in the corresponding period of last year, with the 7.8-magnitude earthquake in Ecuador recording the highest death toll of 668.

The damage from the Ecuador quake reached $US2.5 billion ($3.3 billion), but just $US400 million ($524.5 million) of that was insured, reflecting the common trait of underinsurance in less developed economies.

Combined losses from the heavy storms in Europe and the US exceeded $US20 billion ($26.2 billion), of which $US12.3 billion ($16.1 billion) was in Texas and surrounding states.

“The weather extremes in the southern states of the US are symptomatic of an El Nino phase, where severe storms in those regions are more likely than under neutral or La Nina conditions,” Munich Re says.

The wildfires in Canada’s Alberta province in May resulted in overall losses of $US3.6 billion ($4.7 billion), including $US2.7 billion ($3.5 billion) in insured damages.