[meteorite-list] Risk of Meteorites Is Assessed

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:02:28 2004
Message-ID: <200203141711.JAA19524_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-000018658mar14.story?coll=la%2Dheadlines%2Dbusiness

Risk of Meteorites Is Assessed
>From Bloomberg News
March 14, 2002

Munich Re, trying to gauge insurers' potential
exposure to risks after the Sept. 11 terrorist
attacks, said a meteorite crash on Earth could lead
to bigger-than-expected costs for the industry.

"The effects of a 'bombardment from space' are to
be carried by the insurance industry to a larger
degree than has hitherto been assumed," Munich Re
said. "This is because meteorite crashes will
probably lead to explosions and fires which are
covered in many insurance contracts nowadays."

Munich Re said it started assessing meteorite risks
after the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade
Center. Insurers stand to lose as much as $58
billion from the terrorist assault, Swiss
Reinsurance Co., the world's No. 2 reinsurer, said
Wednesday. "No one ever believed two planes would
crash into a skyscraper, so we have started looking
at what's at all possible instead of what's
likely," said Thomas Loster, Munich Re's head of
climate and natural disaster research.

Insurers may have to pay for meteorite-related
damage because they're defined as flying objects,
like airplanes are, in most policies, Loster said.
A flooding caused by a meteorite crashing into the
sea also most likely would be covered.

There have been more than 100 cases of meteorites
hitting Earth during the 20th century.
Received on Thu 14 Mar 2002 12:11:39 PM PST