(From Reuters)
Japan’s government said on Monday that earthquakes on a southern island last month caused tens of billions of dollars in damage, but the impact was not severe enough to change its assessment that the economy remains in a “moderate” recovery.
The quakes likely caused 2.4 trillion yen to 4.6 trillion yen ($21.8 billion-$41.8 billion) of damage to buildings and infrastructure such as roads and railways in hard-hit Kumamoto and Oita prefectures, according to the Cabinet Office.
That compared with about 16.9 trillion yen of estimated damage after deadly quakes and a tsunami hit northern Japan in March 2011.
The tremors in the south likely caused losses in economic activity of 90 billion yen to 127 billion yen in the two prefectures during 34 days after the first of a series of quakes hit the area in mid-April, according to the Cabinet Office. Read more