Earth, wind, fire (...and water)

The scale of the human tragedy and economic loss facing New Zealand is immense. Devastating earthquakes struck the city of Christchurch on three separate occasions over a nine-month period; in September 2010, February 2011 and June 2011. While the total cost of these events—in economic and human terms—is, of course, immeasurable, the insured losses for each event range from NZ$3 billion to in excess of NZ$10 billion.