QUAKE TO COST $1 BILLION

The insurance industry could pay up to $1 billion in claims to people whose property was damaged by the earthquake that struck Washington State in February, according to the Insurance Information Institute. The preliminary figure is based on an estimate prepared by Applied Insurance Research of Bos-ton, Mass.

The bulk of the damage is in the Olympia area, near the epicenter of the magnitude 6.8 earthquake. Claims are likely to involve damaged roofs, cracked walls, foundations and contents, and damage to automobiles, said the I.I.I. Approximately 12 percent of homeowners in Washington State carry supplemental earthquake coverage and those policies usually carry a 10 to 25 percent deductible.

The financial impact on insurers will be far less than the $2 billion to $4 billion in economic losses estimated for the state. The earthquake that struck Washington is the largest to hit the area since 1949. The April 13, 1949 earthquake resulted in eight deaths and cost more than $25 million in damages ($184 million in today’s dollars).